Two Sides of a Coin
by ZetaCommand
Summary: During the final moments of Yggdrasil Online, the famed Tomb of Nazarick is transported to a new world that still despises them. Now the last remaining member of Ainz Ooal Gown and his loyal NPCs must survive in this strange land. But Momonga isn't the only pariah to have made the transition...
1. Chapter 1

PARADISE LOST

Disclaimer: I do not own Overlord or Sword Art Online (SAO henceforth)

* * *

~ Undisclosed location ~

 _Aurorialis Nocturne_ , set to be released in the year 2039 after completing its beta test, was a VRMMO game published by Blackblade Studios, a subsidiary of RECT. Set in a fantasy world sprinkled with early industrial era elements it is, as was the majority of its kind, marketed to the public with an emphasis not on what one could play as (though it did have a fairly diverse selection of races) but rather on choices and how it would personally affect one's character, through the "Karma Aura" system.

The "Karma Aura" system was actually not an innovation, but a new take of an existing concept. Before, where a player's status and, in some games, their allegiance was indicated by color on their avatar or a symbol beside their stats. However, in AN Online it was not just the indicator that changed but also the character's appearance. Those who did things deemed "evil" such as player killing or PK in non-combat zones or after an unaccepted challenge earned negative karma whereas those who did "good" acts would receive positive karma and so forth.

The system, in fact, by design, devoted a large chunk of its memory on what the programmer deemed to be acceptable behavior and any acts done by the player were automatically logged. Using this as a basis, slowly but surely, the system would alter the player's appearance. No matter what equipment they wore, the total Karma they possessed would determine the appearance, subject to a limited form of customization, of course. For instance, those with a high amount of "good" karma would radiate an almost divine look. Their armor or weapons would become white, gleam and other associated traits of justice. On the other hand, those who committed acts of evil would emit a dark aura, their equipment darkening and becoming more pointed.

Despite this so called forced change on their avatar, players were still free to customize their appearance, limited only by the Karma appearance feature. Players had the option to purchase a different look for their avatar of course (otherwise everyone would look the same) but their actions would always leave a tell tale sign on their appearance such as dark and red colored weapons and so on. What the system really forced players to do was broadcast their deeds to the world via their avatar in some way.

One of the reasons for this was a feature of the game: revive penalty. The more times a player "died" in the game the longer it would take before they revived aside from the usual penalties. It was the intent of the programmer that this feature would discourage unbecoming behavior and encourage player friendliness based on the golden rule, if one experienced the discomfort of not being able to play for a long time then he or she should be able to sympathize with others and refrain from doing the same. Thus, players would flock towards the "radiant" players since they would, at the very least, not harm them in any way and that the Karma indicator was the only thing they could not change. On the other hand, other players would shun the "dark" characters as they were clearly trouble within the game. Staying neutral was all but impossible as acts would immediately be recorded once a person started.

While the game had other features such as the collective ability of players to alter the landscape, the Karma System was currently its most dominating feature. What was not known to the beta testers, however, was the fact that roughly a third of the players therein were either "Orange" or "Red" Players.

After the resolution of the SAO incident almost fifteen years ago, the authorities were at a loss on how to deal with these so called "oranges" and "reds". True, the system was indeed fatal as Kayaba Akihiro claimed and perpetrators were properly imprisoned for "killing" other players due to electronic evidence since it still fell in the legal definition of murder but there was a problem with a certain group.

Some weren't recorded or witnessed to have killed anyone but their status clearly indicated it as such.

Unable to prove that they committed the murders the prosecution instead relied on the technical wordings of the law and used the color status as circumstantial evidence. They argued that these players (never mind some weren't of the age of majority) were a danger to society and should at least be under house arrest or under probation. The High Court accepted the argument and passed down its decision setting the one and only precedent of this type of case in the world.

The result was that most of these young players were placed under house arrest. The decision also had other repercussions such as the termination of employment of some of the older ones in order to protect the name of the company or the ostracizing of players from friends.

A few years had passed and the programmer for AN Online approached these players and offered them the opportunity to beta test the game. In exchange, those with the "orange" status would have their records wiped clean while those in the "red" would receive a reduction in their sentence. The programmer had, by chance, a friend in the legal profession who discovered an obscure provision in the laws that could potentially release the SAO players. He had kept this part to himself as he secretly wanted their actions, their feelings, to be as genuine as possible when they played the game and see if they had actually reformed during these years. He certainly did. After all he wasn't completely innocent himself.

Well, that and the potential backlash of the deal.

"Nine individuals huh?" Kirito rubbed his tired eyes as he glanced at the screen. The Beta test was nearing its end but these guys...

He picked up his phone.

"I need to wrap some things up with the game. I'll be home soon."

* * *

~ ANO, Night Phase ~

"Hurry it up Ri," Vronn complained, "We can't get to the ambush point at this rate."

A group of players surrounded a paralyzed player on the ground. He was the last of his party that had unwittingly stumbled upon their aggressors while the latter was on their way to their true objective.

The group, nine in total, consisted of a wide variety of races and jobs that the game had to offer.

None of them were human.

AN Online's setting was set between the period of modernization and the dark ages. Only in the game's universe, magic was the dominant technology and science was dabbled at to solve things that was too impractical or expensive for magic. Due to the setting various creatures of lore still roamed the lands and it showed as such here.

In response to her companion's complaint, the female player brought her scythe down and decapitated the downed player. His avatar's "blood", really just red particles for the game's rating system, sprayed out for a moment before finally vanishing.

The female player inhaled. It was just an act though, they couldn't really breathe in-game. The truth was, her character was buffed by the attack on the enemy player slightly and glowed briefly to show that. This was because it was a passive skill of the Vampire race. While predatory non-human characters such as Werewolves and Vampires had a large number of passive traits in a fight, there was a subtle but significant difference on how each race would approach a battle.

It was useless now though. The player was the last of his unlucky party and the effect would wear off by the time they would get to the real ambush point they had planned for the night.

"I see everyone's having fun tonight," Came a disappointed voice.

The group looked up to see Kirito hovering in mid-air above them.

He was dressed in a more mature version of his Avatar from his ALO days, minus the elfin ears.

There was no sign of a weapon on him.

"Didn't you say to have fun when we first logged in?" Kiros asked. In his Werewolf Avatar, he seemed the largest of the group. His weapon, Hastati's bane, was as tall as he was and was strapped to his back.

"When I said that I was secretly hoping that you'd show me that you guys had changed," Kirito said, "Now look at you, all red players. Don't you have any shame?"

"What good is a game if we can't do what we want?" Growled another. He was a Troll, vaguely reptilian in origin and looked like a humanoid alligator.

"Doing the _right_ thing," Kirito began, as if lecturing a child, "can get you where you want to be as much as doing _this_." He gestured to the place where the victimized party was before.

"I've been following the fight," He continued, "And those players will need to a few hours of waiting time before they can log back in. I designed this game to encourage friendly behavior among players, but you guys deliberately went the other way."

The black haired programmer sighed as he descended onto the ground.

"At this rate the courts will never grant you any clean records."

The group bristled at the declaration.

"What the hell are you saying?!" Yelled one in indignation, "You said if we beta test this game we'd get clean records!"

"You think I can just make them release you?" Kirito snorted, "The families of those who died in SAO want your asses in jail, not just house arrest. So when they heard of the deal I tried to make, they protested. Now, we reached an agreement. The deal was, if you guys show you reformed in this game via the karma system they'd drop the protest but if not..."

He let the last part hang. There was no need to spell it out.

The group directed a hateful glare at him.

"We didn't kill those guys!" Vronn protested, "They can't prove anything. We shouldn't even be under arrest in the first place!"

"But the SAO system shows you did kill someone during that time," Kirito countered, "Despite the fact that Kayaba announced in the square at day one."

"Bullshit!" roared the Troll, "That asshole trapped us in there, rigged our helmets to kill our real bodies, and _we_ get blamed?!"

The programmer's words clearly snapped something within the group because they moved to attack Kirito. In response, he held out a hand as if ward them off.

And they froze in place.

The reason why he did not have a weapon on him was that as GM, none of his actions were restricted in the slightest in the game. He could tap the ground and it would erupt as if a high level destructive spell was cast or he could move at blazing speeds. He could even masquerade as a player and have the maximum amount of stats. After tweaking the system of course. In other words if it could be done in the game, he could do so freely.

"Maybe there was an excuse back then," the programmer said evenly, "But such a situation does not exist here."

The nine struggled to move but only succeeded in trembling moderately. Under this condition, they were as puppets held aloft by the puppeteer.

"Would you have acted differently if told of the condition?" Kirito continued, "Maybe, but we'll never know now. The deal with the authorities was made even before-"

"BASTARD!"

Kirito's eyes widened with surprise when a black and red scythe rushed toward his face. Years of instinct allowed him to dodge the attack by moving backwards and then again when another strike was launched.

"YOU WERE THERE TOO!" She raged, swing her weapon savagely, "I was there when we subjugated _Laughing Coffin_! You're NOT innocent either!"

"She was there too?" Kirito asked himself, surprised. Then again, he didn't really mingle with the subjugation force despite knowing that some of them could be killed in the endeavor.

"FUCKING HYPOCRITE!" Another attack came.

"How did she-?" He wondered as he evaded, suddenly remembering he was invincible in the game which calmed him down.

Continuing to dodge out of instinct, Kirito pondered if this was remnants of the old SAO and ALO system he included in the game. If so this was a bug to be removed.

The female player, Kirito noted she was of the High Vampire race, continued to attack despite that he had evaded all of her previous attacks. Though the Avatar System did not allow it, there was obviously murder in her eyes; her attacks were executed fluidly, indicating hours of practice.

In the game, there was no hit-box. This meant that, aside from all basic attacks having to be aimed manually, it was a pre-requisite that said attacks actually hit their target as well. This, combined with the limb-damage system, meant that combat was much more dynamic than most VRMMO games.

Kirito pondered on how he could make the system better. Despite attacks that would incapacitate lower or equal level players, he could think of such thoughts. Such was his state of invulnerability in the game. At least, that was how things were supposed to be.

One of the player's strikes missed his body. However, rather than transitioning into another attack she instead reversed the strike so that the small blade behind the weapon's main body grazed Kirito's cheek.

He leapt further back this time to examine the damage. It registered. This was indicated by a red gash on his face. Kirito looked at the player and saw she glowing a bright crimson, almost pinkish in color. It must have been some variant of a stat drain passive skill. Since Kirito's stats were off the charts as GM, the small percentage she received as a buff must have been immense.

Intriguing.

The High Vampire hefted her scythe and leapt forward, her speed much closer to Kirito's now because of the buff. Her blade screamed towards the programmer's neck before she was blown away.

"Dinner's getting cold," said a sweet voice.

Everyone turned to see a blue haired fairy standing relatively close to Kirito, a white and gold rapier thrust out before him.

"Uh, sorry Asuna," Kirito mumbled apologetically, "I was just wrapping things up here."

"Good," She said as she turned towards the player who struggled to rise. The basic attack of a GM had all but reduced a level capped, melee-type player's HP to zero.

"I'll just take out the trash then."

"No! Leave it!" Kirito said, realizing Asuna must have been eavesdropping. Did she suspect he was cheating on her or something?

"I've said what I wanted to say."

"Oh, and one more thing." Kirito addressed the group as a whole, "I already have enough data to begin the Alpha stage. This means I'm shutting down the Beta server."

A message from the GM appeared in every player's mailbox. Once opened, it contained the declaration Kirito had announced to the group along with a timer to the remaining hours the game had left.

Four days.

"Enjoy it while it lasts."

The two former ALO players disappeared without any fanfare and suddenly everyone was able to move again.

"Bastard," Vronn spat as he tested his movement, "At least you hurt his ego."

"Looks like its back to driving delivery trucks." Someone in the group muttered sadly.

"Hey! I wanna see what people's reactions are to having their accounts wiped!" Kaku, a Deep Naga, exclaimed. Despite his avatar's fearsome appearance he had an easygoing voice.

"Hmph!" Vronn snorted, "They're probably clapping each other on their backs right now, congratulating each other for a thankless job."

"Yeah, probably gonna hold a sappy goodbye in-game picnic or something." Kiros mocked.

Upon hearing this a malicious thought entered Vronn's mind.

"Why don't we join them?" He said, adding an evil smile, "Instead ambushing a party, why not everyone who's gathered for a little picnic and dressed for the occasion?"

He was referring to how players would divest themselves of their high level gear when attending a social gathering. Usually there were guards, but there was a possibility this event would be held outside due to the "momentous" nature of it.

The party would take advantage of it by rampaging through them until either side was wiped out. It would be the largest ambush in the game's history. Even if the game were to end such an event would be branded in the players' memories forever.

The battle would be _**legendary**_!

A chorus of affirmations rang out among the group as they realized the implications of their actions. All except from one. The High Vampire player stood quietly amongst the group.

"Well GM-killer?" Kiros asked, "You in?"

"I'm in."

* * *

~ Yggdrasil, Great Tomb of Nazarick ~

"The relic of the past huh?" Momonga thought sadly.

It was the final day of the game he and his friends had played for years, but only three logged on in response to the emails he had shamelessly sent.

None had stayed.

"Haaah, I guess this is it..." He sighed as he watched the countdown timer near the end.

23:59:54

"Ugh, I'm gonna have to wake up early tomorrow..."

5...

4...

3...

2...

1...

...

00:00:00

00:00:01

00:00:02

00:00:03...

"What the-?" Momonga blinked.

"Did they push back the server shutdown?" The veteran player wondered.

He tapped the air in front of him to open up his console and was greeted with- nothing

Surprised, he tried again and once more the console failed to materialize. Next he tried to call the GM but the call would not connect.

"What's happening?!" He rose in a panic, "Where's my console? Why can't I contact the GM?"

"Momonga-sama, is something wrong?"

Momonga looked down in surprise. Who said that? Wasn't Albedo and all other NPC's head bowed down a few moments ago? Now, all of their eyes were trained on him.

"Momonga-sama, is something the matter?"

Momonga's brain ground to a halt due to the sheer impossibility of the event. It was impossible because the game simply did not have that sort of feature even after twelve years' worth of updates. At least, not to this degree.

The line spoken came from Albedo.

* * *

~ AN Online, Four days later, Walkiria ~

"Well, that was a thing." Kaku sighed.

The plan they had formulated had worked beyond their wildest dreams.

During the last few hours of the game those players who cared enough had gathered to hold a festivity. Just as the nine had expected they were dressed in non-combat gear that, while it still had some special effects, were mostly just for show. During the last two days, a majority of the players had behaved recklessly, doing things that they would have never done such as selling their prized gear or simply strolling into places where they had never dared to venture before for fear of the re-spawn penalty.

Then the announcement for the event came.

As players trickled in and began to mingle, those in the group of nine with the skill [Sneak] or its other permutations had labored to set traps that would inflict status ailments of varying degrees. As reckless as the other players, the group spared no expense for the endeavor whether it be on materials or upgrades. What did it matter anyway since the game was about to end?

Once the gathering had reached its peak and the countdown timer appeared in the sky everyone had looked up to watch. No one had even bothered to scan the area for anything cloaked. Why would they?

Then, minutes just before the time reached zero, the ambush began. The traps were detonated and a large majority of players were affected. Those that weren't were quickly hit by AOE de-buff skills from the group's magic players. Then the melee players charged in, attacking indiscriminately.

The stat de-buffs, combined with the lack of proper equipment resulted in a large number of casualties initially. Some players were not so foolish as to discard all of their equipment and quickly donned them, but it was too late. They were already hit by the status effects.

Nevertheless once the chaos and initial shock had subsided, all the players present turned to confront their aggressors. The gathering did not really consist of all the players of the game. Others had logged out, seeing no point in staying. Others still, decided to hold their own much more private event. All in all, it was safe to say that the group was up to roughly seven against one. Only two of those in average was armed.

Still the numbers was a leverage in itself and the group was slowly but surely cut down. Just as wolves could not normally hunt large prey alone and relied on numbers to bring down said opponents so too were _ANO_ 's PKers brought down in a similar fashion.

It wasn't enough.

HP and other base stats meant nothing if not backed up by the proper equipment. There was also the issue of status ailments inflicted on most of them. The group systematically cut through them until there were only four of the original nine left.

"Yeah, we still have a couple of minutes." Another surviving member snorted.

Walkiria hefted her scythe onto her shoulders by habit, saying nothing as she was kore concerned on what she was going to do once she "woke up".

"I vote for twiddling our thumbs!," Kaka said cheerfully. As he said that, the Naga's barbed tail twitched.

An idea shot through the group. They were not really an official group in the game. They were not even friends, in game or in real life. They simply remembered each other's names and sent messages for routine hunts. Rather, it was just that they had spent enough time to know each other well enough to reach a common path when making decisions.

They slowly looked at each other, and saw that the survivors had reached the same conclusion. Hands tightened on their weapons as old grudges, petty arguments and even simple dislike resurfaced in their minds, all of which were swept aside due to expediency of the moment...but not forgotten.

The four slowly faced each other and readied themselves. Preparatory skills and spells activated and items were consumed.

It would be a real fight now.

* * *

~ Great Tomb of Nazarick, Guild Master's Office ~

Slow clapping could be heard as the view from the Magic Mirror had finally changed.

"Congratulations Momonga-sama!" Sebas exclaimed in his dignified elderly voice.

"Thank you," Momonga said as he turned to face Sebas, "And sorry to make you do this with me."

"What are you saying Momonga-sama? It is my duty as Butler of Nazarick to serve beside you."

Momonga made an "Umu" sound. Over the past few days he had begun to feel tired over everyone speaking to him with honorifics and the sense of responsibility that came along with it almost made him run to his room and hide there. Still, he was slowly getting used to it. This, and his experience as a salaryman, allowed him to quickly adapt to the leadership role though as being in a workplace meant that everyone's jobs were clearly delineated including that of the boss.

Putting aside these thoughts, he turned his skeletal face to the mirror. Much like a certain comrade of his in the past, he had hit the jackpot after the first (accidental) try.

The mirror, specifically designed to find players, had done its job as it revealed a person walking in a forest. This person, however, was clearly not human. Not if her scythe-like wings were any indicator. She wore equipment that was utterly unfamiliar to Momonga and his inner collector felt the urge to ask her questions about it when they would meet.

"Let's see..." He gestured and the image zoomed out so he now had an aerial view.

Momonga wanted to see if there was a place where they could meet properly as he wished to avoid unnecessary confrontation. A sudden appearance might interpreted as an ambush. Ainz Ooal Gown was a guild notorious for PKing after all. Besides, it was not yet ruled out that said person might not even be a player. Highly unlikely but still probable.

"A village? This seems to be the right type of place." He said, as he zoomed in.

Reconnaissance was a basic skill in Yggdrasil after all, and doubly so for a PKer. It was only natural that Momonga would put his hard earned skills to use.

"Are they holding a festival?" The player-turned Lich wondered.

"No, I believe not." Sebas said with disgust in his voice.

Momonga zoomed in to see knights in armor attacking what appeared to be just ordinary villagers. It wasn't even a battle. It was a massacre. Every swing of the sword saw it return with blood and the townspeople could mount no significant resistance against the armored men.

Momonga once more felt unease but it wasn't because of the killing in front of him. As a member of society he should have felt disgusted or at least outraged at the sight before him but it felt like Momonga was watching a nature documentary where insects devoured their prey. It appears his theory that his mental state was slowly becoming that of a Lich was correct after all.

"What should we do?" Sebas asked him, his voice clearly eager for any action to help the villagers.

"Nothing, they have no strategic value to Nazarick." Momonga swiftly answered. There was little to no benefit in helping. It was also quite possible that humans of this world could be as strong as Level 100 players.

"Understood." Sebas replied in a sad tone.

As he said this he briefly saw the image of Touch Me, his first friend in Yggdrasil, over Sebas' form. Touch Me had saved him when he was just about to be killed by players hunting heteromorphic players. If he had died back then he had resolved to quit the game out of frustration.

 _"If the road is harsh, it is only natural to help!"_

"Touch-san, I will repay the favor." Momonga thought as the memory receded.

"However, that village with its people will be a suitable backdrop to meet that player," Momonga declared as he stood up, "Plus I will have to test my powers in this world eventually anyway."

Secretly, he also hoped that by showing the player that Ainz Ooal Gown wasn't really composed of bad people it would lessen chances of open confrontation and maybe even forge useful alliances for Nazarick.

"Sebas I'll be going ahead. Raise the alert level of Nazarick and tell Albedo to meet up with me fully armed."

Sebas acknowledged his orders enthusiastically while Momonga pulled out the staff of Ainz Ooal Gown.

"[Gate]"

* * *

Author's note:

Another story from me! Well, truthfully this one's been sitting in the back for a while. Its a bit of an experiment to get me to write more OP sequences since I tend to be quite reserved in fight scenes in all of my stories.

As the title suggests, this is an SAO/Overlord crossover but I'll only be using some SAO concepts and while the rest will primarily be Overlord. In short, SAO will only be a springboard and nothing else so apologies to those of you expecting Kirito to show up past this point.

The issue presented here was something I've been wondering ever since the conclusion of season 1 of SAO. Not what happened to the main characters, but rather to other people who have been trapped in a virtual nightmare for over a year. They must have needed some psychological and physical therapy after all that. Then we come to the orange and red players. How did society deal with them afterwards? The SAO incident was pretty public so I imagine the events were pretty hard to cover up. The events here are how I'd imagine it would have been dealt, that is to say the fear and bias against one labeled by their status color. Unlike the bias in Yggdrasil Online, which was superficial and petty, the SAO one has some reasoning behind it.

And obviously the MC is one of those players. Care to guess what her status color was in SAO?

As to how she was able to break out of a system command lock by the programmer well... SAO has never played the cold, hard numbers (stats!) game in direct contrast to Overlord firmly entrenching its mechanics on the game's rules. As was stated here, it was a quirky remnant of the system. In that regard, SAO might as well have been just a generic fantasy adventure if that was the case. However, I will admit that the premise, while not original, was very compelling at first.

And now for some trivia:

This chapter was originally titled "The Birth of Evil" as seen from the viewpoint of the New World inhabitants, but was changed to its current title to better reflect the situations of Momonga and the ANO character.

Well, since the Plavsky Effect got two updates in a row, I think I'll work on a Grimgar/Persona update. It'll also give me time to iron out this story's outline up to "The Bloody Valkyrie" Arc. Hopefully.

Until next time.


	2. Chapter 2

RE:born

Disclaimer: I do not own Overlord or Sword Art Online

* * *

~ Unknown Forest, The New World ~

"What is it?" Geryon asked. His detachment was one of the forward scouts that Captain Nigun had sent out as observers in case the Warrior Captain, Gazef Stronoff, should suddenly appear and to inform the main body of such. However, things had not gone as expected.

From his concealed position he saw less than a dozen knights riding at full speed as if chased by a Demon King.

Seeing as they did not seem to stop, despite knowing that his squad was located here and the danger of being trampled by accident, Geryon had ordered two of his magic casters to stall the horses.

The beasts heeled, nearly throwing off the riders. Unperturbed, they almost rolled off their steeds and continued to run maddeningly towards them.

"Are they under mind control?" He wondered, "From who?"

Nevertheless.

[Lion's Heart]

The spell, designed to boost courage and dispel spell induced fear, finally seemed to snap the knights out of their crazed state. They collapsed to their knees on the ground exhausted. It seemed that only fear had kept them going at this point.

"Report!" Geryon barked at the nearest knight he approached, "What happened? Where are the others?"

It was inconceivable that Knights of the Slane Theocracy could be beaten back by mere villagers.

"M-monster!" the knight below him stammered fearfully.

The knight recounted of the creature that had attacked them at the village in broken sentences but Geryon was able to piece together the overall story from added information that was blurted out by the others. Based on their ramblings it was a powerful undead though it was not known which. He would have to see it for himself before he could make a positive identification.

The more troubling fact was the magic caster that seemed to be the one to control it. Geryon realized it was probably a necromancer. Unlike Liches, Necromancers were still human but preyed on their fellow species for whatever sick goal they had in mind (Normally it was to ascend to Lichhood).

As a member of the Slane Theocracy, Geryon saw the undead as a bane to humanity. Education within the Sunlight Scripture had given him a greater insight as to this foe was so insidious beyond what the commoners were told so it didn't really matter whether he was a "fanatic" as other people of the neighboring countries saw them or not. That the undead hated the living was a fact and would take every opportunity they had to eliminate them. Like a virus they would kill until none were left alive.

"Che, the scum keep crawling out of their holes..." He muttered disgustedly.

Secretly he was pleased. Even if the necromancer had killed the villagers, indirectly aiding their mission, and resurrected them as zombies they were still no match for the Sunlight Scripture who could summon Angels and cast magic spells from a distance. Their job was normally not assassination but to purge demi-humans and this was fairly close to that. Besides, even if they were a different scripture, there was a standing order to all of them to slay the undead on sight.

"Bring them back to Captain Nigun," Geryon ordered, "He'll want to hear this."

As the group headed out, they came across a clearing.

While such features were fairly common to a forest, what made this one special was that it wasn't there that last time they passed by. Also, it was covered with trees, but now the surrounding area was literally a desert, as if all life had been sucked dry.

In the center stood a strange object.

As they approached cautiously, stepping carefully so as not to slip on the sand, they saw that the object was black and twisted, in the shape of a double helix. The two helixes were wound tightly and ended in with two prongs casting horns as shadows on the approaching Sunlight Scripture members.

"By the Six, what is it?" muttered someone.

Geryon approached and laid his hand on it. Red veins traced the object and glowed dully. Its size seemed perfect to hold at least a large humanoid. From this close, he could tell it reeked of death.

"Shit, another thing to call in." He thought. Things were getting stranger by the minute.

"Fall back, we need to get back to the main unit, now!"

"Sir! Look!" his subordinate pointed to his back.

Geryon had left his hand on it and now he could feel a pulse inside like a heartbeat. It was quickening.

He leaped back and readied a spell. His subordinates followed suit by arming different types of spells since it was not known what would happen. Even the knights they rescued took their swords.

The veins glowed brighter and he even thought he could hear a heartbeat.

"Steady!"

The object shattered outward and a creature, born from darkness, emerged.

* * *

~ Carne Village, Ainz Ooal Gown ~

"Ainz-sama, perhaps you would like to wait inside?" Inquired a gentle female voice.

Momonga, now calling himself after his beloved guild, had been standing for a couple of hours near the outskirts of the village. The position he took was the general area where the player was estimated to arrive but it seemed he was a bit early.

As his new undead form never tired it was not a problem. Neither did he feel discomfort a human would have in such a position. Even if he were to be exposed to the elements he would probably only notice them academically.

"Even that lower life-form's dwelling would better than waiting out here like a mere servant." Albedo continued.

"I will wait here Albedo," Ainz replied, "It is important to present a good image before negotiations even start."

It was a line that every working member of society knew whether it was the boss of a company negotiating with another company or a humble salesman.

"But your form is already glorious enough Ainz-sama!" Albedo declared, "that player, while perhaps above these insects, should be the one waiting on you!"

Ainz sighed internally. He had thought he already explained this. As Albedo was probably in a hurry when Sebas had informed her of the mission, he was pretty sure there were no distractions in the village chief's house when he told her of the plan.

"I have already told you why Albedo," Ainz said, letting a bit of authority color his voice. Nobody would obey a pushover boss after all. The NPCs of Nazarick expected him to act like a ruler and Ainz couldn't disappoint them, despite his own doubts about being a leader.

"Speaking of which, do you remember what I said earlier?"

"Yes Ainz-sama!" Albedo puffed her chest, "Standby and prepare to intervene if the enemy turns out to be hostile!"

Ainz noted how she assumed the player was already an enemy.

"And what else...?"

Albedo looked momentarily confused.

"Do...not appear threatening." Albedo finally said. Though it seemed she was doubting her own answer.

"Yes, precisely." Ainz said, "To that end, please put away your weapon and stand a bit far from me to show that you are not concealing anything."

His cape and robe were bulky after all.

One of the strategies of PKing was to show a fairly visible and intimidating, sometime obvious, opponent. Then when the other party was distracted by the evident threat, hit them with a surprise attack. Ainz was afraid the other party would think this and would start the negotiations roughly. To this end he even dismissed the Death Knight he had summoned earlier.

"Bu-but Ainz-sama, what if they attack you?" Albedo asked worriedly.

"You are the strongest NPC is Nazarick Albedo," Ainz said, adopting a patient voice, "I think you'll be able to buy enough time in that event. I am relying on you."

"Ku~huuu! Such praise from my master! You can count on me Ainz-sama!" Albedo squirmed in place like a schoolgirl whose crush had just spoken to her.

While it would have looked cute in her normal clothes, the movement looked bizarre in a full suit of armor. At least, that's what Ainz thought.

"Wait till Shalltear hears this! She'll choke with envy..."

Ainz tuned out Albedo's imaginings as he stared into the forest impatiently. His undead body might have been able to wait, but his mind could not.

 _"Geez, what's them taking so long?"_

* * *

~ Forest clearing near Carne Village ~

Geryon backed up in a panic. Though he had fallen on his rear the instinct to escape, ground into his very cells, urged him to keep moving.

Some kind of monster had erupted out of the object and slew three members of his unit before they could react. By the time they could react a second swing of its monstrous weapon cleaved apart another few into bloody chunks.

The only reason he was still alive was because he had leaped back when preparing his attack. He was a Magic Caster and Divine Magic user after all.

When everyone had recovered their wits they tried to attack it with spell and blade but neither worked.

Spells hit, but were apparently useless against it and the remaining knights were cut down before they could enter effective range by its large, curved weapon. Then it proceeded to murder his other men until it stood at the center of a growing pool of blood.

The creature had the look of a beautiful female with a svelte form, but not even a fool would think that for long.

The most obvious feature that it wasn't human was a pair of scythe-like wings with purplish membranes that ended in curved tips. Next were her elfin ears which, while not as long or pointed as the Theocracy's slaves, were clearly too sharp to be human.

Next was its face which most males would have found mesmerizing. It was at an age where females would have been considered their most attractive, not too young but not mature either, stopping just after reaching adulthood.

Probably to lure in its unwitting victims.

Geryon's thoughts were in overdrive, both seeking away out of this nightmare and as a coping mechanism against insanity.

The creature looked around to survey its handiwork.

By now the foul stench of insides and blood were mixing in, and even from a distance one could probably smell it.

Then it spoke.

"What the hell?! What is this?" It exclaimed, "You're not NPCs!"

Huh?

Geryon couldn't understand the last part. What was an NPC?

It turned towards him, noticing his movement.

"You," It pointed its weapon at him, "Start talking."

"I-I'll never tell you anything monster!" He yelled reflexively.

"Wrong choice."

It walked towards him leisurely, and Geryon's backing up seemed pitifully slow compared to its graceful movements.

As it got closer he could see that its slitted irises had grown large, an indication that it was unfocused...or fixated at something.

Nevertheless.

[Holy Ray]!

He cast a holy type spell at his enemy. When that didn't work he tried another.

[Fire ball]!

Geryon cast spell after spell, while furiously praying in his heart to his gods, only to see that it had no effect on the monster as it neared him.

It grabbed his hand an squeezed, crushing it and turning his chants into a high pitched scream.

With inhuman strength it ripped off the Scripture helmet he wore and exposed his head.

It tilted its head in a curious manner while slowly forcing Geryon's head in the opposite direction. Then with growing horror he realized what he was fighting as it bared it's teeth.

 _Vam_ -

It sank its teeth into his neck and drank.

The Sunlight Scripture squad leader squirmed and struggled to break free but it was no use. As he died numerous thoughts ran through his mind.

 _Its the middle of the day! How?_

 _Where-_

 _Why didn't holy type spells work?!_

His thoughts became jumbled as his consciousness faded. As he used the last of his strength to pray to his gods he felt something other than his blood being consumed...

* * *

~ Carne Village ~

"Oh, finally!" Ainz thought.

He'd been waiting for a few hours at the edge of the village now and Albedo had renewed her attempts to get him some place "more dignified". He was worried the sun would set and look like an idiot standing outside for so long with little results to show.

In truth he was about to give in to her demands when he finally saw a figure in the distance approaching.

Just as he had earlier spied in the magic mirror it was a female heteromorph. He was partially relieved as he hoped it would make negotiations easier. In Yggdrasil playing as a heteromorph was considered by most a bad idea as there was no penalty for PKing such players and as a result heteromorphs hunting each other was a rare, but still very real, occurrence.

Ainz was hoping that this shared plight would generate some base empathy.

Just as he pushed back the bitter memories of being PKed in the past, the female player stopped a good distance from Ainz and seemed to be analyzing him but not with a spell.

His passive skill, [Master's Sight], allowed him to see if there was any spells cast. It was a highly useful spell for magic casters as duels between the same class often relied on spell usage strategy. It was an excellent warning system whenever a spell was cast during PvP since the user could at least prepare a defense even if he didn't know what spell was cast.

With his enhanced undead hearing Ainz heard Albedo take a step forward.

"Albedo, remember my orders." Ainz said in a low voice.

"-! Yes, Ainz-sama"

Though she complied Ainz could feel Albedo's hostile gaze from behind. Well, as long as negotiations didn't break down it was fine.

"Greetings, I am Ainz Ooal Gown," Ainz introduced himself, "An MMO player like yourself..."

The last part was a test. Earlier on he discovered that real-life words were unknown to the NPCs and even the villagers as he casually dropped them in their conversations. They almost universally asked him to clarify what he meant during those times. An example of which was Albedo not knowing what a GM was. In other words, if she understood the terms commonly used by a player then it would be proof he was not the only one transported to this world. But was happened next was...

"Momonga? Hmph!, if I named myself after a flying rodent I'd want to change my name too." She said deprecatingly.

Ainz was shocked. Immediately his undead passive ability kicked in and subdued his inner turmoil to manageable levels.

"You...can see my real name?" He asked.

"Of course I can," She responded annoyedly, "Its there right above your HP and MP bar."

Ainz was overjoyed that he had found another player so soon. It meant that there was chance that his friends were here in this world as well. At the same time he was shocked as unless one was attacked or was friends with another player, their information could only be seen with active abilities.

Ainz was puzzled but he could always ask her later. For now he'd...

"Kuku...! You dare call my lord a rodent!" Albedo screeched out. She took a step forward before Ainz restrained her by placing a hand on her shoulder both for emphasis and as a restraint. Truth be told, if she rushed forward he would not be able to stop her as Albedo's STR stat was well above his.

"Do not ruin this for me." He warned her. Albedo slumped her shoulders in obedience but still kept her murderous gaze on the player.

"This is Albedo!" he said quickly so as not to seem suspicious with their whispering, "An-"

"NPC," the player cut him off, "Are we done with the tutorial yet?"

"Why don't we talk over inside?" He tried again diplomatically.

A moment passed before she shrugged and walked forward. As they made their way to the village chief's home Ainz put himself beside her just in case Albedo made any rash moves.

"Albedo, wait outside." He commanded.

"Y-yes Ainz-sama," Albedo said reluctantly, "Call me to your side if you need anything!" She added quickly.

Ainz made an acknowledging sound as he stepped in.

"Sorry about that," He said once they were alone, "The NPCs from Nazarick are quite overenthusiastic ever since they gained life."

She looked at him quizzically.

"They were transported here along with my guild base and became alive in the the process." Ainz explained.

"Oh, good," She said annoyedly, "This just keeps getting better and better!"

She seemed to be taking this remarkably well.*

"Well, then miss..." Ainz said, trying to steer the conversation back to what he had planned in his head.

"...Walkiria"

Walkiria? It sounded foreign.

"Walkiria-san, I took the name of my guild once I decided to explore this world because..." Ainz explained the situation for a few minutes and while Walkiria listened patiently and nodding as if confirming some things he had said. Ainz included his theory in his explanations on how his mindset as well as his body was becoming that of a Lich.

"Well, that explains why I bled that guy dry before I could stop myself..."

She narrated how she had encountered some people after arriving and assumed they were NPCs and attacked them. Then Walkiria explained how the stench of blood drove her to drain the enemy magic caster dry before she realized what she was doing. It apparently felt good.

"So she's a Vampire, like Shalltear?" Ainz thought, "Is she a Magic Caster or a Melee type?"

"Oh, well at least it proves my theory," Ainz tried to downplay the incident. Truthfully he was happy since he was afraid the knights that he let go would warn their superiors which might cause trouble for Nazarick in the future. It appeared that she accidentally took care of the problem.

"Did you reall become an undead?" She asked out of the blue.

"Yes, see?" Ainz removed the mask and revealed his skeletal face.

Walkiria moved over to him and poked his head as if to test something. Next she poked his eye.

Ainz felt some kind of disturbance and his vision predictably blacked out for that eye but otherwise no pain.

"Hoh? It _is_ real," Walkiria said resting her hand on his skeletal cheek, "Just like my wings."

Thats right! Ainz remembered seeing her wings earlier in the mirror but it was now covered by a black high-collared cape. The only visible part of Walkiria's person was her head. Her pointed ears were poking out so she'd have to do something about that as hiding one's non-human features had to be complete and not generate further suspicion.

"Ainz-sama, forgive my intrusion but a group of humans is approaching and-ack-akck!"

Albedo stopped her report short when she saw Walkria's hand still on Ainz's cheek. Albedo's index finger was shaking as it pointed at the scene disbelievingly in front of her.

"A-Ainz-samaaaaaa!"

* * *

~ Forest, Nigun ~

"Most of the men are gathered, " Nigun's subordinate reported, his voice muffled due to his helmet by design, "However, we have heard nothing from Geryon's squad or the Knights attacking the village."

The idea that an entire squad of the Sunlight Scripture was missing and its complimentary knights was disquieting but Nigun had no choice but to focus on the task at hand.

Finally, after weeks burning down villages to lure out the Warrior-Captain Gazef Stronoff their target had fallen into the trap.

Maybe Geryon's squad fell to an ambush by the Warrior-band?

No matter. Nigun cleared his thoughts. They would be avenged if that were the case. Geryon's squad were but a fraction of the Scripture and not even the Kingdom's strongest warrior could defeat all of them. Nigun didn't even bother entering Gazef's men into the equation. According to their spies in the kingdom they were commoners who had some skill, a few even knew two or three Martial Arts, but none even came close to the Warrior Captain in terms of strength.

"We can't wait for them," Nigun announced, "The beast has fallen into the cage. We must strike now or he might escape back into the Kingdom's interior."

If that happened there would be no way to attack him that deep in foreign territory and remain unnoticed.

"Devote yourselves to the Six!"

Nigun clasped his hands together and bowed his head in prayer. The rest of the Sunlight Scripture followed suit.

Once the short prayer was complete they opened their eyes which contained an unnatural glow

"Summon the Angels."

* * *

Author's note:

*Due to the SAO incident I think its safe to presume our MC is made of sterner stuff.

Well, this chapter's done. The next one is obviously the battle of Carne. Looking at my notes, the real changes to the normal events won't show up until after that. Since she's from a different system there are bound to be different ways of handling things along with the whole "death game" thing.

For those who care to leave a review please mention if the pace is too fast or a bit confusing. For example in the LN, Ainz and village chief have an extensive talk about the New World as well as the short fight with the Death Knight and the ST Knights. I avoided this part since there would be no real changes, just a cut and paste affair and I don't have the time for that. I think the same goes for the readers since most have probably read the light novels. If no one says anything I'll presume there's nothing wrong with the pace.

Lastly, I hope I got part of Albedo's character here right. I mean she's visibly clingy but I always saw her in a more...dangerous light.

Until next time.


	3. Chapter 3

Demon Lords

Disclaimer: I do not own Overlord or Sword Art Online

* * *

~ Forest, Gazef Stronoff ~

A low, thundering noise could be heard as two dozen horses galloped through the forest. The men riding them wore the Kingdom's colors and were fairly well-built. Young or old, they had a rugged, experienced air about them that would tell a non-combatant that these men had seen their share of action but this was where their similarities ended as they were all eclectically equipped.

No two armor sets were the same. Some wore leather armor, while others had breast plates and greaves but no vambraces. Some used long-swords, short-swords or maces with their shield of choice. There was even one who had a giant two-handed bladed slung on his back. Even their ranged complement varied. Some carried short-bows while others carried crossbows and there were even a few who sported the rare Dwarven pistols*.

At the head of this group, riding faster than the others, was a powerfully built man that radiated an aura of strength and nobility, though more than a few of the Kingdom's actual nobles would raise a fuss to anyone who described the man by the latter trait.

He is Gazef Stronoff, Warrior Captain of the Kingdom, and recognized as the most powerful man in the country.

For weeks now the warrior captain had been frantically searching the Kingdom's outskirts after reports of an unknown group of Knights, allegedly belonging to the Baharuth Empire, had been pillaging the countryside. With every burned village and corpses that he encountered Gazef's heart grew heavy with sadness only to be later filled with rage at the atrocities committed. They found pitifully few survivors whom Gazef had sent away under minimum escort to the nearest walled city.

"Captain!" a warrior caught up to Gazef, "Slow down a bit! Its dangerous! We've been riding for hours, maybe you should rest for a bit?"

"I'm not the one running, its the horses," Gazef replied, "The map indicates there's a village nearby, we can rest there after we see its safe or..."

Gazef left the last part unsaid.

If he stopped to rest now, how could Gazef live with himself if he discovered that another village was being burned as he relaxed? How many innocents would pay due to a momentary selfishness?

Gazef urged his horse to go faster.

"Please let me be in time!" He prayed to whatever gods that deigned to listen.

* * *

~ Carne Village ~

"G-get your filthy hands off my-" Albedo yelled making a move to summon her weapon before Ainz stepped in between Walkiria and her.

"Albedo, something to report?" Ainz said after a (fake) cough, "Are those miscreants we chased off coming back?"

"Why is she so worked up?" Ainz wondered, "Could it be a larger force?"

"I-I do not know Ainz-sama," Albedo had calmed down a bit, though steam was coming out of the metal slits of her helmet.

"The insect only mentioned it as such," she continued referring to the village chief, "Shall I neuter him for being imprecise?"

"No! No!" Ainz answered hurriedly, "If he can't identify them they must be another group. I think it would be best if we meet before anything."

"It would be strange if the man couldn't identify the Knights that had just attacked his village." Ainz thought.

"Understood"

"We almost done here," Ainz said indicating Walkiria, "I will join you in a minute."

"Y-yes, Ainz-sama." Albedo's shoulders drooped as if she was sad.

"Hmph, you were right about your NPCs being overenthusiastic." Walkiria stepped forward.

"Ah, well I didn't make her," Ainz turned around, "She was made by a friend. Our guild's theme was centered around evil you see."

"That's weird," Ainz thought, "Most people would have said something by now."

Earlier, they had been discussing things when Ainz decided to drop the ball. His name should have given it away anyhow.

Whether what was to be said was good or bad, everyone knew about Ainz Ooal Gown, as it was in the top twenty guild list in Yggdrasil but Walkiria strangely said nothing when he proudly declared his guild's name.

"So what do you say?" Ainz continued since Walkira seemed to have no intention of saying anything.

"Since we know nothing about this world it would be a nice investment to get some good-guy points. A partnership would benefit us both."

The friendly air around Walkiria seemed to suddenly withdraw and the player suddenly became more guarded.

"I've never been in a guild before," She said quietly, staring at him.

"Ah, no worries," Ainz said puzzled by the sudden change of demeanor, "I'm not inviting you to be a guild member, what I was referring to was strictly a working partnership."

It would be impossible to get a majority vote without his guild-mates after all. Ainz felt that even if Walkiria could meet the qualifications set by the guild it would be a betrayal of his friends' trust if he should decide something significant like this on his own. It was bad enough that he did what he wanted on the last day like alter Albedo's settings...

"I've never been in a party either**. I'm a solo-player."

"Eh?!" Ainz exclaimed in surprise in his mind.

Soloing as a Heteromorph was considered to be extremely difficult due to the prevalent PKing of by Human players. However, this information brought back the warm memory of when Touch-Me had saved him all those years ago. If he thought about it that way, it was not really impossible.

"Well, one of my closest friends was also a solo-player before we founded the guild," Ainz remarked thoughtfully.

Walkiria shrugged in response.

"Also, please consider what I have said about roleplaying ourselves, Walkiria-san," Ainz added.

"Do I have to?" She rolled her eyes.

"It's for our security," Ainz said, intentionally leaving out the part that he didn't want to disappoint the NPCs.

"I don't think people would believe us even if they were willing to listen given our appearances." This world seemed to harbor some prejudice against heteromorphs as well based on those the reactions of this two girls Ainz had saved earlier.

"Fine," she said annoyedly after a while, "But I leave when I want to."

"Fair enough Walkiria-san," Ainz was relieved.

She gestured in the air and a console screen appeared in front of Ainz.

"A console?! Outside the throne room?!" Ainz thought, surprised. His passive kicked in and mitigated the emotion.

With a cleared head, Ainz reasoned it must be because he was part of a guild and as Guild-master he had a connection to the guild base. It would make sense that a solo-player would have a different set-up if this world's interpretation of the game was anything to go by. However, this did not explain what he saw.

It was not the black and red hues which contrasted with the gold and black of his console that was puzzling, but rather the text. He couldn't make sense of it. Not a single word. It looked like someone mashed the keyboard randomly.

"Forgot to read Japanese already?" Walkiria smirked, "Its the left button to accept."

She could read it?

Remembering the urgency in Albedo's voice Ainz decided to be done with it and pressed the left button.

The screen vanished as he did so.

Walkiria brought up the console and this time Ainz could clearly see his name - "Momonga" - on what he assumed to be an empty friend box, though the gibberish of the rest of the system was still there.

"Oh good," Walkiria declared, "The remove button is still here."

Ainz sweatdropped. It seemed she was really serious about leaving if she felt like it. And here he was feeling like an employee that had successfully closed a deal with a customer.

"Well, now that that's settled," Ainz coughed, "Lets go see who these people are."

* * *

~ Carne Village, Gazef Stronoff ~

Gazef's heart beat faster as he sighted the village's outskirts. There were clearly signs of a fight and he was afraid he would be greeted with the sight of another field of corpses and burned homes.

However, to his immense relief he saw people moving about fixing their homes. Perhaps it was just a monster or demi-human attack. Gazef could think this because as cruel as dismissing a constant threat outlying villages faced every day it was better that a few dozen died rather than the wholesale massacre of inhabitants he had come to expect.

As he neared a portly old man stood at the front. His clothes were humble, and his arms were tucked protectively at his sides marking him as simple villager, ever wary of wronging someone in the position of strength. However, this was not what caught Gazef's eye.

Next to the presumed village chief stood a person clad in a midnight black robe with a strange red mask and metal gauntlets. The fabric looked expensive and...magical if one took in the entire details of the person. To his right stood a knight clad from head to toe in black armor with elaborate horn designs on the helmet. Like the presumed magic caster, it was anyone's guess as to the actual gender underneath the suit.

Gazef's eyes finally rested on the last "not-ordinary" member of the group. Once his eyes met her face his heart skipped a beat. This was only natural since the female had a beauty that, in his opinion, surpassed even that of the third princess. Much like the others she was clad in black, a cape covering her entire body except for her head. Not even her feet could be seen. Another magic caster? That was an unusual set-up if the Warrior Captain ever saw one.

"I am the Warrior Captain of the Kingdom, Gazef Stronoff," he announced as his horse slowed to a stop, "Are you the chief of this village?"

The question was directed at the old man.

"Y-yes, Captain-dono."

"Who are those people behind you?"

"They are-"

"Its alright, I will introduce us." The one with the mask cut in.

"The knight to my left is Albedo, and this is Walkiria." The figure indicated the caped female who stared at Gazef's group disinterestedly.

"And as for myself, I am Ainz Ooal Gown," The masked figure gave a short tilt of his head, "Please call me Ainz."

"What is your business here Gown-dono, if I may inquire?" Gazef asked, "Are you adventurers by any chance?"

"No, no," Ainz denied, "We were just passing when I noticed that the villagers seemed to be under attack and decided to help."

Gazef narrowed his eyes a bit before dismounting.

Though it could not be seen, Ainz prepared himself for some kind of rebuke such as "You are interfering with the King's business! Who really sent you?!" or something of the sort.

Instead what Gazef did surprised everyone.

He bowed as low as he could while still remaining standing.

"Thank you very much!" He said with sincerity, "Thank you for doing what I should have been my duty!"

Internally, Ainz was surprised as a Kingdom denoted societal status. For the Kingdom's Warrior Captain to show such gratitude and humility was completely unexpected.

"That is quite alright, Gazef-dono," Ainz said, "I did not do so for free. You see I am new to this area and I have been asking the village chief for information that might help me."

"I see. It is only natural that you be rewarded Gown-dono," Gazef said straightening up, "I will arrange it once I return to the Capital."

"I'll probably have to pick it up in person," Ainz thought, "That could be troublesome, walking into a place I know nothing of."

"Information will do for now Gazef-dono," Ainz instead said, sticking to his original objective, "As I mentioned earlier, we are quite lost."

"Then perhaps we can discuss this inside?" Gazef said, "Though I am prepared to do my duty upon arrival here that appears to have been take care of by your group. As such I would like to rest while providing any answers I would be permitted to give."

As the group made their way to the chief's house the people looked on curiously but did not approach and Ainz realized why.

"Gazef-dono, could I trouble you and your warriors to place their weapons in the village square?" Ainz said trying to sound as tactful as he could, "The people here have been quite through quite a trying experience."

Gazef smiled thinly at the request.

"I would Gown-dono if the circumstances were different. However, these weapons were bestowed upon us by the King. I am afraid only he can command us to do so."

"It is alright Ainz-dono," the village chief said, "I believe we can trust the Warrior Captain."

Ainz made an "umu" sound then looked at Walkiria. It was only now did he realize that she hadn't say anything throughout the entire encounter. Maybe he was getting used to being waited on by the NPCs of Nazarick...

Still wrapped in a midnight-black cape, and her inhuman ears thankfully hidden behind her lavender hair, she walked silently. It appeared she was going to go with the flow of things. If this was her plan, Ainz was silently grateful. He had belatedly realized that upon declaring her a partner she might say things contrary to his plans down the road.

Ainz didn't know her well enough to predict her actions and the same could be said about her. Solo-players were notoriously independent and lived a romanticized life of wandering the mysterious parts of Yggdrasil***. Realizing this Ainz would somehow have to convince her to follow his lead.

Despite the current situation Ainz knew he would have to put the wellbeing of Nazarick above all else. Even if it meant sacrificing an alliance with the first player he had met. Still, it did not mean he couldn't address both concerns.

He just had to play his cards right.

Once inside Gazef sat down, the fatigue from the hours of riding finally catching up to him. He had considered using one of his blue potions but decided against it. If the body was treated for every inconvenience it suffered it would not grow well. Though Gazef was entering the latter portion of his prime, he firmly believed continuing his training, hence why he behaved as he did.

It was late afternoon and he estimated that the sun was due to set in a couple of hours. The village chief and his wife had offered him some tea and he graciously accepted. Coming from humble origins, Gazef was familiar with the different brews of the countryside and the steaming drink brought back pleasant memories.

As he took a sip, he cast a glance at the two strangers in the corner of the house watching their mannerisms as they spoke to each other in hushed tones. Though large and fairly luxurious by the standards of commoners, no self-respecting noble would call this place a proper residence. Such was the kind of people he was surrounded with. Among those in the capital perhaps only the king, the third princess and her bodyguard were truly the embodiment of the concept of "Noble". It was because of this that Gazef wanted to determine part of their origins without rudely inquiring about it.

There were in fact many reasons to suspect that they were traveling nobles.

The first evidence was apparent. The equipment of the magic caster, Gown-dono, as well as the black knight, Albedo, were of high quality. They could even be considered treasures in their own right. Based on Gazef's limited knowledge, only mithril ranked adventurers and above could afford a full set-up of gear.

The second was their aura. Ainz Ooal Gown had a commanding presence about him and his tone conveyed this. Albedo had respectfully obeyed his order to guard the house once they stepped inside. Walkiria also had a regal bearing about her. She stood up straight, not with the discipline of warrior, but one who believed that their existence was important and that any sort of deference was to earned, not given.

Yet at the same time they did not behave like nobles. They did not sneer or comment on the humble abode nor avoid touching anything like it carried a plague. Gazef couldn't gauge Ainz Ooal Gown's expressions but if his outlook was anything similar to Walkiria's then he would be disinterested, but not disdainful.

Earlier on Gazef had considered asking Ainz Ooal Gown to show his face but in light of the circumstances he thought it would be too rude. Perhaps before they left Gazef could say something like "May I see the face of this village's savior? I would like to invite you to my home if ever you are in the Capital." Yes, perhaps that would be sufficient. Gazef was never good with words and he rarely participated in court for fear saying something damaging to his king.

"Captain!" came a shout, "Captain Gazef!"

Standing up with concern Gazef walked to the door. It was one of his men and his path was barred by Albedo and the knight's monstrously large axe.

"What is it?" he asked from the doorway.

"Sir! We have detected troops outside the village! They have summoned monsters with them. The village is surrounded!"

~ Carne Village, Ainz ~

Ainz looked out the window facing an open field and saw a familiar sight. Beside presumably their summoners, Archangel Flames hovered patiently waiting for orders.

Archangel Flames were summoned monsters in Yggdrasil and were fairly low on the spell and skill ranks. They were useful in the early stages since they slightly increased a player's MDEF and PDEF stats and added an extra blade in battle. However, their usefulness dropped exponentially as one leveled up since later spells were more destructive and overall more efficient.

"Those are Archangel Flames alright," He mumbled absentmindedly.

Walkiria on the other hand, could only squint at the creatures. From this distance she couldn't see their basic stats and levels. What was more disconcerting was that she had never seen such summons in ANO before.

The beta-tester shrugged off her unease, reasoning that Light based summons wasn't something she really wanted to pursue back in the game even if her Karma alignment allowed it.

"I hope whatever plan you have doesn't include trying to stare at them to death," Walkiria commented dryly as Ainz hadn't moved in minutes.

"We won't be getting involved," Ainz turned toward her, "At least, not directly. Ah, here comes the Warrior Captain now."

Gazef approached them, just like Ainz his focus was on the creatures outside.

"They appear to have come in force, Captain." Ainz said.

"Indeed, they will be troublesome to deal with." Gazef replied. Internally he suspected that the summoners were from the Slane Theocracy. Even they wanted him dead for some reason.

"I could count my allies with my hands." Gazef thought wryly.

"An entire group of magic casters seems a bit too much to send against a mere village." Ainz's voice snapped the Warrior Captain's attention back to reality.

"You truly are not from these parts, Gown-dono," Gazef chuckled, "Their target isn't this village, but rather me."

"I see," Ainz spoke, "It appears you're a hated man Captain, though at the moment I can't see why."

"The situation is truly dire," Gazef looked at Ainz determinedly, "Gown-dono, I will not mince words. I would like to hire you and your companions. At very least to break through their blockade. I will see to it that you will be properly compensated once I return to the capital."

"Hmm..." Ainz cupped the chin of his mask, making a show of thinking deeply.

"I am sorry Captain," He said finally, "As mere passersby we have already meddled in affairs not our own. I will have to decline."

"I thought as much," Gazef smiled, "What if I were to recruit you under the authority of the crown?"

"Then I will have to resist." Ainz replied quickly.

A moment passed before Gazef sighed in defeat.

"You are quite set Gown-dono," the veteran warrior said, "If I may make one selfish request, please protect the villagers! I will draw the enemies away. So please..."

The Warrior Captain was about to prostrate himself before Ainz's armored hand prevented him from completing the act.

"Your spirit is truly noble Gazef-dono," Ainz said, "Though I cannot directly aid you, I swear by the name of Ainz Ooal Gown I will protect the people here with all my might."

"Thank you Gown-dono!" Gazef stood up straight and looked like he had received a buff, "With this I can ride without hesitation or regret!"

"Here, take this." Ainz pressed a strange looking object into Gazef's hand, "It will protect you along the way."

"A gift from you?" Gazef stared at the strange object, "I am forever grateful Gown-dono. If ever you are in the Capital, my offer still stands. I would welcome you with a feast in my household!"

Minutes later, the warrior band had finished their preparations and rode off to try break through the blockade.

"I initially thought that humans were insects," Ainz mused out loud, "However, after conversing with them, the Captain most of all, I have come to see them as small creatures."

"Is that why you promised them in your glorious name, Ainz-sama?" Albedo inquired. She seemed less hostile to the humans after she picked up her master's tone was like how one would dote on a pet.

"Partially, Albedo."

"What happened to 'not interfering'?" asked a voice.

Albedo glared at the impudent voice of the player who casually walked up to her lord without bowing respectfully.

"This is too good an opportunity to pass up, Walkiria-san," Ainz said before they could start butting heads, "Those men will be a good source of information about this world. As per our partnership agreement, I will share what I learn once we... _obtain_ it from them."

"P-partners?!" Albedo stammered, eyes darting between the two rapidly.

"Hmph, they look like those guys I encountered on the way here," Walkiria ignored the spluttering NPC, "If that's the case they're going to break easily."

The assurance from Walkiria made Ainz smile beneath the mask as he couldn't think of a reason for her to lie.

"Then we'll just have to be...gentle, Walkiria-san."

This looked like the start of a productive venture for Nazarick.

* * *

~ Carne plains, Nigun Grid Lewin ~

Nigun Grid Lewin, Captain of the Sunlight Scripture, looked satisfied as the troublesome Warrior Captain finally fell to his knees.

Finally! After all these weeks of traipsing around this godless country, they could finish their task and return home. If memory served him right, the Beastman nations were set to attack the Draconic Kingdom soon. The country paid the Slane Theocracy a yearly sum to hold the line against the foul creatures. To say that the amount was...sizable was an understatement. A large chunk of the national budget was devoted for defense, which translated to the Scriptures whenever the higher-ups heard of the word. More importantly, pay or not, the job was what the Sunlight Scripture was formed for, not this...assassination.

"Well done Gazef Stronoff!" Nigun praised, "To have lasted this long against so many Angels is a feat worthy of the title _Kingdom's Strongest Warrior_!"

"But sadly, you will die," Nigun grinned, "No songs of your last battle, no one to know the truth. It might even be a while before anyone realizes you're dead!"

The bloodied form of a man, Gazef Stronoff, struggled to rise. The fact that he wasn't on his back was truly praise worthy. Whereas his men couldn't even take down a single Angel, Gazef not only defeated multiple of the holy summons, but actually managed to reach halfway across the field they had chosen as the battleground. However...

"Finish him off!

The Archangel Flames rushed forward to stab their target before everyone heard a growl. The growl soon became a defiant roar as Gazef stood up.

"DON'T UNDERESTIMATE MEEEE!"

The released fighting spirit of the man was so great the Archangel Flames actually backed off, while Nigun's men took an involuntary step back. Nigun, however, looked unconcerned.

"Its just the cry of dying beast!" He shouted to snap his men out of their surprise, "Hurry up and kill him so we can torch the village and end this little outing."

"hehe *cough* ahahaha!"

The laughter came from Gazef.

Nigun's eye narrowed with irritation. Did he go insane? It was said all sorts of things happened when a person was at death's door.

"Kill the villagers?" Gazef said between labored breaths, "Hah! That will never happen in a million years!"

"Why do you have some sort of trump card hidden there or some such?," Nigun decided to humor him.

"In...hat...village is someone stronger than me..."

Perhaps he really did snap.

"The ravings of a dying man," Nigun sneered, "I'll tell you what's going to happen! After we kill you we'll massacre the villagers! There won't be single one left to tell the tale!"

"Have all of the Angels attack at once!"

The summons darted forward, far faster than an average human or beast man.

Gazef readied himself for death before he heard voice.

 _Looks like its time to switch._

Nigun blinked. One moment his target was there- and then he wasn't. Even his men had disappeared, leaving nothing but bloodstains and trampled soil as proof that a battle had taken place.

On the spot Gazef prepared to make his final stand were two individuals who appeared seemingly out of thin air.

A person, clad in an expensive looking robe which looked like it was for magic casters, stood at the forefront. He wore a strange looking mask and metal gauntlets but had no staff. To his right stood a beauty with pale skin, her lavender hair and red irises were the only thing that seemed to give color to her person. Like the person with her, she was clad in black, the cape hiding all but her head from view. However, this wasn't important.

"Who the hell are you?!" Nigun questioned, "Were is the Warrior Captain?"

"Greetings, men of the Slane Theocracy," The tall figure spoke in a measured voice, "The person to my right is Walkiria. As for me, I am Ainz Ooal Gown. Please call me Ainz.

"Before anything else, might I ask if those are Archangel Flames you've summoned? They are creatures from Yggdrasil."

Nigun's eye twitched. It wasn't surprising that this man knew of their summons if he was a magic caster. While most people knew that magic casters of the Slane Theocracy could summon Angels, only those in the magical academe knew of their names specifically. This man was probably one such person and was responsible for sending or hiding away Gazef Stronoff.

"They are not your concern," Nigun replied haughtily, "I'll ask one more time, _where_ is Gazef Stronoff?"

"Back in the village," Ainz said casually, "But speaking of which, I couldn't help but over hear your conversation with the Warrior Captain..."

Nigun felt a chill down his spine, but he dismissed it as his imagination. The sun was setting after all, it could be just an environmental change.

"So what?" Nigun sneered, "Did you come to beg on their behalf?"

"No, no," Ainz shook his head slowly, "Actually...you have some balls. I spent a bit of time and effort in helping that village and yet here you are declaring that you'll massacre them. I've used my name to ensure its safety, I will not permit you to tarnish my reputation."

"So here is my counter-offer," Ainz said after a pause, "Submit your lives to me and your deaths will be swift and painless."

" _PERMIT?! SUBMIT!?_ " Nigun fumed inside. He'd never heard of the name Ainz Ooal Gown before, yet here was a man claiming he was someone! The audacity of the declaration snapped something in Nigun and drove away the unease he felt earlier.

"Order the Angels to attack him!"

In response two Archangel Flames sped toward the arrogant magic caster, their fiery blades drawn. At this point, magic casters would have either erected a barrier, flown away or launched a counter spell. Others would give in to their instincts and attempt to flee, but Ainz did nothing of the sort. In fact he did nothing at all.

The summons' blades pierced his body and head. His companion, Walkiria, turned her head to witness the event.

Nigun felt some sort of relief. The attack was so quick that neither had a chance to react in time.

"That's what happens when you make stupid bluffs!" He sneered, "Well, what are you waiting for? Have the Angels pull back, otherwise his body won't fall over."

"I've given the order," His subordinate responded confusedly, "but they can't seem to-"

"Nullify low tier physical damage," came a quiet voice.

The Sunlight Scripture looked in surprise to see Ainz holding the by the head as they struggled to pull back. The summons, stronger than the average human, flailed helplessly like flies caught in a spider's web.

"As its name implies," Ainz explained casually, "Its a passive that nullifies physical attacks if they are below a certain level."

With one swift motion he slammed the creatures down with ridiculous force, destroying them outright.

"I see, so they really are Archangel Flames from Yggdrasil," Ainz said to no one in particular.

"Impossible!"

"It must be a trick!"

Similar shouts of disbelief from the members of the Sunlight Scripture echoed in the dusk.

"Oh? So your level is high enough that they can't damage you?" Walkiria sounded amused.

Ainz made an 'umu' sound. "Your assessment was right earlier Walkiria-san, but we'll have to be careful for any trump cards."

"Now then," Ainz spoke clearly this time, "I want to know who taught you this magic."

"Order _all_ the angels to attack! Hurry!" Nigun yelled, ignoring the casual talk of the two.

"What frisky people," Ainz mumbled. Then he looked over to Walkiria, who seemed to be just as unconcerned as he was. Maybe his earlier guess that she reached the level-cap was correct after all.

[Brilliant Prism]

A beam of energy shot out from Ainz's finger an impacted the foremost angel. As the beam dealt damage, numerous beam split from the main body and shot out towards the other angels. The process repeated until all the Archangel Flames looked like they were caught in a net of light. A heartbeat later, they disintegrated. Victims of a single, never before seen spell by the members of the scripture. And they acted predictably in the face of such a show.

"OOOHHH!"

"Its a monster!"

[Shockwave], [Fire ball], [Confusion], [Holy Ray], [Air hammer], [Lightning], [Open wound], [Confuse Human], [Poison]...

The members of the Sunlight Scripture threw out spells they felt most proficient in at the monster before them. However...the spells dissipated harmlessly upon impacting on Ainz. It was the same as rainfall on the side of a cliff or a castle wall.

"Hmmm...These are spells from Yggdrasil alright," Ainz mumbled nonchalantly amidst the barrage before an explosive fire spell hit him.

However, the smoke cleared as if afraid of his very presences, revealing the man to be unharmed.

"Who taught you those spells?!" He questioned them more forcefully.

"Aiiiiieeeee!"

One of Nigun's men panicked and sent a metal ball launching towards Ainz. If spells wouldn't work, maybe physical attacks would? It was known that Magic Casters didn't fare so well in physical combat. It was reasonable to think they did not have much defense in that area since they relied on vanguards. Plus, the ball was heavier and traveling faster than a mere arrow. Ainz's head would be smashed like a watermelon. However...

The metal ball hit him square in the forehead...and rolled down a small incline.

Ainz and Walkiria watched the ball roll until it stopped a few meters away.

"Hmm, I expected that to pass through me like the Flame's blades..."

"Idiot, if its a metal ball its not supposed to pass through anything even if the damage is negated. Its probably blunt-damage type."

"Ah, sorry. It appears that the effects translate rather differently after all."

Nigun felt like he was trapped in a nightmare. The person standing before him was casually chatting with his companion like they weren't even there!

"Oh! Sorry to keep you waiting," Ainz turned towards them, "Now then. I remember asking a question."

"Principality of Observation! Attack!" Nigun yelled, pushing back his fear with a might effort.

His summon, the Principality of Observation was a support type Angel that increased the abilities of any allies in view. However, it had to remain still for the effects to take place. Despite this Nigun had ordered it forward because he sensed that most of his men were running low on MP and that there were no more Archangels left. The Principality of Observation advanced inexorably towards the pair. Nigun's passive enhanced the abilities of his summon and thus, while it was a defensive type summon, it should win in a battle of attrition.

"Oh, good! It'll be here tomorrow!" The woman, Walkiria said derisively.

"At least the movement animation is correct..." Ainz mumbled, though the men could hear it.

"Fine!" Nigun fumed inside his mind, "Keep talking! We'll see who's bragging when they're a bloody pulp in the-"

"[$# &*(+=] !" Walkiria uttered an unknown language. Strange runes swirled around her form. To Nigun and the members of the Sunlight Scripture the words hurt their very ears and deep down inside they knew the runes were something blasphemous, unholy...

One moment, the Principality was advancing, the next it was split in half. The two portions continued forward even as it began to dissolve in motes of light. The summon apparently didn't realize it was dead and kept moving forward as it disintegrated.

Only Ainz, who was at the level cap, could see what happened. Walkiria had produced a short scythe, black, red and jagged. In one smooth motion she hurled it towards the advancing angel and cleaved it in two. The throw was at an angle, and the scythe missed the humans only by a few inches and continued to fly until it disappeared from view. It happened so fast the humans probably thought the gust of the passing weapon was the wind.

"Still what was that attack? A skill? or a Spell?" Ainz asked himself, "I don't recognize those words. Were those runes an animation effect?"

Countless questions arose in his head. While Yggdrasil was a big game, Ainz thought he'd seen most of what the game had to offer after all those years.

"I can't wait until tomorrow unfortunately," Walkiria said in a cold tone, "You've had you fun Ainz. If this is what they call a fight, then its time to collect what we're really here for."

Nigun felt cold all over. Deep down, he couldn't help but imagine Walkiria's words were referring to his soul.

"Protect me you idiots!" He yelled.

His subordinates looked at him uneasily, as if he planning on using them as meat-shields as he ran away.

"I will summon our trump card!" Nigun held out one of the Theocracy's treasures.

Bolstered by this thought his men used up what little MP they had left to summon Angels or defensive barriers.

"That glow...so they even have Yggdrasil items as well." Ainz thought and then he looked at Walkiria, "Crap, maybe I should have brought Albedo along. What if its a high level Angel? I could win...maybe."

Nigun smiled as he noticed Ainz's unease at the crystal. So even from there he could feel the immense power eh?

"No!" Ainz shook away his doubts, "There are two players here! We can't lose to a summon! If its what I really think it is, we'll just have to take out the caster and then run away. We can come back after it disappears!"

"Ainz," came a soft voice, "I'm tired of playing this game. I'm finishing this."

"Oh?" Ainz thought, "She must be a frontline fighter! Right, I've done this set up before!"

"Be my guest Walkiria-san," He said, "I'll provide support from here. Please exercise caution, it might be a high-level summon."

As the black-clad female player casually walked forward, the glow of the crystal in Nigun's hand now seemed as bright as the sun. It was here!

"Behold! The highest form of Angel!"

There was a blinding flash of light and the surroundings were immediately lit. Motes of holy light drifted downwards and banished the darkness that was befalling the land. There on high floated a being with innumerable wings and no discernible features. In its hands rested an ornate mace made of ivory and gold. It would be obvious even to those who had never seen it what it was. A holy type creature.

"Dominion Authority!"

* * *

~ Carne Village, main lodge ~

The villagers and their chief tended to the survivors of the Warrior Captain's men as best as they could. A few minutes prior to the disappearance of Ainz, and the subsequent 'arrival' of Gazef's men and the battered captain himself, he had given them a few red potions and told the gathered villagers to tend to the wounded.

Though he did not hate humans, his undead form prevented him from forming the necessary empathy for people he did not know. Instead, this objective outlook had birthed a hypothesis where he wanted to see if an entire bottle of red potion had to be consumed for the healing effect to work. He spotted the two girls he had saved earlier but didn't worry since he had muddled their memories after the elder sister had drank the potion. As such, the current situation was a goldmine of information if everything went according to plan. Wanting to cover all bases, Ainz had left Albedo to guard the villagers.

Despite exercising what could be considered due diligence, a minor unforeseen factor had occurred. The villagers had only heard of potions at best from traveling merchants and Adventurers and they were extremely expensive from their situation. They did not even know what color they were supposed to be. This being the case the village chief wanted to consult sir- er, Lady Albedo on the proper amount to administer, however...

"Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn that bitch!" Albedo muttered viciously as she paced back and forth like a caged animal near the door.

"How?! How did that bitch inveigle Ainz-sama!" Albedo raged internally, "And so quickly!?". They only alone for a few moments!

An even more disturbing observation was that Ainz seemed eager to bring her along, going so far as to leave Albedo behind to guard a few _insects_!

The earlier words of Ainz made Albedo freeze in her tracks.

"Co-could it be? Ainz-sama really was intending to make her his partner!?"

"No. No. No. No. No." Albedo mumbled the one word litany.

"She's not a Supreme Being!" Albedo denied to herself, "She's not even _from_ Nazarick!"

Bits and pieces of reasoning fell into place in her hyperactive mind. That slut would undoubtedly fail whatever test her master had set forth. He would be disappointed! He would turn her away despite her pathetic pleas!

Yes! There was precedence for this! Many had applied to join the guild of Ainz Ooal Gown and many were turned away. There were only forty-one Supreme Beings after all. Maybe Ainz-sama would even order her to lop off the female player's head!

Her battle axe appeared in her hand and she stroked it lovingly, she couldn't wait for the order.

"Hehehe, hahaha! I will be waiting for your order Ainz-sama!"

The village chief, with his human hearing, heard Albedo's laughter as he approached and shivered. Perhaps it would be better if they should deal with healing the soldiers on their own.

* * *

~ Carne Plains ~

"I will give you credit Ainz Ooal Gown!" Nigun grinned at the despairing form of the magic caster in front of him, "You are truly powerful to make me summon the highest form of Angel! Perhaps if circumstances were different, I would recruit you but alas this is merely bad luck for everyone."

Ainz didn't respond immediately. He seemed broken. His back was bent slightly forward and his gauntleted hand covered his face. It was the image of one who gravely miscalculated a maneuver. All the while his female companion, Walkiria, advanced leisurely ignorant of the power displayed before her.

"This is, how?" Ainz's soft words were carried by the wind.

"Are you afraid?" Nigun asked smugly, "It is only-"

"This is stupid."

"What?!" An involuntary cry disbelief tore itself unbidden from Nigun's mouth.

"I was concerned over something like this? Man, this is embarrassing. Good thing I didn't bring Albedo along," Ainz muttered casually to himself, though somehow Nigun could hear every word.

"Ah! Walkiria-san! Sorry for making you worry!" Ainz raised a hand as if to wave to his companion, "Its just a Dominion Authority!"

"J-just?!" Nigun swallowed at the casual dismissal of the Dominion Authority. Could they possibly...NO!

"You're bluffing!" Nigun yelled hysterically, banishing the unrelenting foreboding he felt since the start of the fight, his spittle flying forward, "This is the highest form of Angel! An existence that humanity cannot defeat! You've doomed yourself and your companion Ainz Ooal Gown! Dominion Authority! Activate [Holy Smite]!"

In response, the angel's mace shattered into numerous fragments and spread out swirling around its body. Then a pillar of light straight from the heavens slammed onto the spot where Walkiria was standing. The attack that could defeat a Demon King, would reduce anything it hit to ashes. If it was evil there wouldn't be anything left, if it was a force of good something might be left behind but only if it was fairly durable or just out of luck.

It was an awesome sight, something Nigun and his subordinates would probably see only once in a lifetime. The clouds parted as the pillar of light extended far beyond sight into the heavens.

A tortured scream from Walkiria could be heard and it served to raise Nigun's spirit tremendously. Of course, he expected Ainz and his companion to be able to last at least a second given their strength.

From across the field Ainz took an involuntary step back and readied a teleportation cash item. This wasn't supposed to happen? Did this world interpret holy/dark weaknesses differently? Was it a one-hit kill simply due to attribute or something else? Regardless, he would have to ponder on this some other time. He would escape during the cooldown period of the spell.

All the while Walkiria kept screaming.

Ainz regretted her fate, but at least it wouldn't be in vain. He was a PKer. He would find a counter to this and-

"Hehe...HAHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHA!"

The screaming morphed into maniacal laughter as the light from [Holy Smite] died down to reveal an unhurt Walkiria.

Her cape was gone. She stood proudly, with all four of her sycthe-like wings spread majestically bathing the area with a defiant shadow to the holy light cast by the angel with a serrated red and black Scythe that seemed to radiate a wrongness about its blade.

"Oh?" Ainz stored the cash item away before anyone could see it as he examined her form,"She's fine it seems. Hmmm...are those sub-wings? Ah yes! I remember Shalltear having them on her armor as well, but Walkiria-san's seem to be part of her body."

Oh, the things those devs allowed you to do in Yggdrasil.

Meanwhile, Walkiria's laughter died down.

"I'm sorry," She said, a chuckle escaping, "Was that your best shot? Looks like bonehead was right. That thing isn't even near the level cap."

"Eh?! Please don't call me that Walkiria-san!" Ainz pleaded internally.

"Well, like I said. Playtime's over!"

[%&*$ #$!%^]

More of the strange, unholy runes swirled about her as Walkiria uttered the painful sounding words. She leapt into the air towards the Dominion Authority and swung her scythe.

A black tear, seemingly from reality trailed the weapon's blade closely and it cleaved the angel in half diagonally. The tear in reality seemed to engulf the angels form and the very light it generated. Within moments it was gone, sucked from existence, leaving only darkness across the land.

"How?! Wh-what is she? A monster?!" Nigun didn't realize he was sputtering out loud.

"Yes, people keep telling me that." Walkiria said in a silky voice that hid a dangerous tone.

"I know what you two are!" Nigun screamed out loud consciously this time, "You're Demon Kings!"

"That's not going to matter in the slightest." her indifferent response came, "Now then..."

A crack appeared in the sky, only to disappear after a short time. If one blinked, they would have missed it.

"What was that?"

"Someone was watching you," Ainz explained casually, "My counter-magic activated and blocked it. Hmmm...if I'd invested more into the spell I would've been able to give them a nasty shock. Hehe...Ah! Forgive me we were going on about your fate?"

"W-wait! Wait! Wait! Walkiria-sama! Ainz-sa- no! Ainz-dono!" Nigun pleaded, "I am sorry! Please spare my life! I will give you anything! The amount of money is no issue! Even if just me!"

Cries of despair and unspoken betrayal by his men could be heard but Nigun ignored them. His subordinates could always be substituted but he was irreplaceable!

"I have no need of money." Walkiria took a step forward bringing Nigun's fate ever closer!

"Please!" Nigun was all but on his knees, "I'll do anything! Just spare me!"

Walkiria took another step forward, and suddenly appeared in front of Nigun. Before he could fall over in surprise her hand gripped his jaw and held him in place with inhuman strength.

"Anything?" She asked sultrily, "As long you live? I will extend the offer to your subordinates too."

"Yesh," Nigun managed an answer.

He looked into her slitted irises and saw an alien mind but was sure of one thing. Though he could not profess to be an expert, Walkiria seemed to be a bit unhinged even by their monstrous standards. The only thing he could do was to avoid angering her.

She released him and he fell ignominiously on his back.

"Did you hear that Ainz?" Walkiria called back looking at Ainz, "They agreed to be interrogated until their minds break!"

"Ooh! Excellent negotiating Walkiria-san! Neuronist will love these gifts!" Ainz removed his mask for all to see, revealing the polished grinning skull behind. The universal symbol of death.

"You will indeed live commander," Walkiria turned back to Nigun, who felt like a huge chasm had opened beneath him, "You will tell us everything you know, and if bonehead over there wasn't exaggerating back in the village, you will beg for death before his specialist even begins to work."

* * *

~ Carne Village ~

"Its been eight minutes and forty five seconds since I've been separated from Ainz-sama!" Albedo fumed as she continued to pace. There was now a small trench that was evidence of her activity.

"Bitch must have fucked things up and made my beloved Ainz-sama clean up! Unforgivable! When Ainz-sama gives the order to take her head I'm going to- Ainz-sama!"

Albedo halted her ramblings and bolted out the door as she felt a presence that could only belong to her master.

Nemu peeked from the opening. Maybe she was just imagining it but Albedo's posture looked like she would be wagging her tail if she had one.

"Sorry for the wait Albedo we took the scenic route and walked back here," Ainz said as they approached, "We're done for now. After we tidy things up we'll return to Nazarick."

"As expected Ainz-sama!"

Albedo eyed Walkiria who stood a bit behind her lord. She even had the gall to have a smug look on her face as if she did something worthwhile!

"Ainz-sama she has clearly fallen short of your standards," Albedo said in a gentle voice, "Give the order and I'll-"

"What? No, no. Things went rather smoothly," Ainz said patting her shoulder reassuringly, "Walkiria-san's negotiation was spectacular. She actually got them to surrender. They didn't even put up a fight once the Eight-edge Assassins we had hidden around the village showed up. Though I had them [Paralyzed] just in case."

"Now, I'll see to the village chief and the Warrior Captain," Ainz continued, "Please [Message] Pestonya and have her prepare a room. Walkiria-san is coming with us to Nazarick."

"Whaaaaat?!"

* * *

Author's Note:

*While the Dwarven kingdom and pistols (Vol. 1) have been mentioned we don't really have any information on them. I imagined that despite their seclusion they are still willing to trade with humans to a certain degree. This can be seen in the arena manager's collection in Vol. 10. If you don't agree with their appearance here then I ask you let it slide. Its not like its a game changer or even do them any good.

**Not a lie on her part or a mistake. See Ch. 1

***At this point in time, I would like to point out that neither Ainz or Walkiria have realized the other is from a different universe or even different games. Just in case.

Finally, here is chapter 3! As you can see this is why I dislike having to go through a fixed event and asked the previous question before on pacing. As fun as this section was in Vol. 1 I prefer to move at my own pace and the length is a bit long by my standards.

As for the reviews, I appreciate the help in pointing out things inconsistent in the dialogue. They should be fixed by now. To new readers, I mentioned these in my other stories but I type these things late at night and in segments. Sometimes once a day, sometimes a few days so things will might get lost once I return to work on it.

The symbols that appear around Walkiria are those you might find in ALO but with the Karma system active, hence the the unreadability of it by the people who see it, Ainz included. I had no choice but to use the plain symbols since I don't have the necessary font or even sure if the site will allow it. However, whenever she'll use an attack from her point of view it will be typed using the regular words in the future. It would be a bit difficult to get the point across that it sounds like she's speaking in a different language if used something readers could read easily.

Until next time.


	4. Chapter 4

Board and Lodging

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Overlord or Sword Art Online

* * *

~ Great Tomb of Nazarick, Entrance ~

"Here we are!" Ainz declared happily as they arrived in front of Nazarick's entrance. Despite his undead form severely limiting his emotions, his heart always swelled with joy and pride upon returning to the place he and his friends painstakingly made and called home.

After clearing things up in the village which included narrowly dodging an invitation from the Warrior Captain to return to the capital, Ainz teleported the group in front of the tomb.

Since it was daytime the Mausoleum, the entrance and first level of the guild base, looked clean and peaceful. It almost did look like this was the place where people would want to be buried when their time came. The tombstones were neatly arranged, with no moss clinging to it and the grass was trimmed.

The entrance consisted of the building itself, which looked Greco-Roman in origin, was fairly large and was supported by large pillars thick enough for six or seven people to encircle with their arms together.

The first reason Ainz took his time to return was to avoid unwelcome speculation by the Warrior Captain about the incident by answering his questions. Second, Ainz had hoped that Gazef and some of his men would mention his 'name' in their reports and hopefully spread the word to any of his friends that might be in this world. The last reason was how to explain Walkiria's presence to the Guardians and by extension, the rest of Nazarick. They were extremely protective after all. Finally believing he had the appropriate speech ready he ended the talks with Gazef Stronoff and teleported once they were out of site, and casting the proper [Anti-trace Gate] spell of course.

"Hmm, it should have been a while since those guys from the Slane Theocracy were handed over to Neuronist," Ainz thought as they ascended the steps.

"Ara, ara, today must be my lucky day," Came a voice from behind a great marble tomb.

The three looked to see a girl whose outfit made her completely out of place in the tomb.

The girl was wore an elegant dress with frills and carried a parasol. Her platinum hair was tied in a fashionable knot and allowed to hang behind her hood. However, her blood red eyes and fangs, which flashed whenever she spoke, marked her inhuman origins.

"To bask in your magnificent image is truly a pleasure, Ainz-sama." The girl did a curtsy towards Ainz.

"Shalltear Bloodfallen," Ainz said in his dignified Overlord voice, "It is good to be back. Have Neuronist's guests been...accommodated?"

"Yes Ainz-sama!" Shalltear answered as she raised her head to gaze at Ainz's form (lewdly), "She was quite enthusiastic about putting her talents to work on those vermin."

"Ah, that's what she was made for after all," Ainz thought, "I never thought we'd actually find use for her skills."

"Very good," He said, "This is Walkiria, the player we met in the village. Walkiria-san, this is Shalltear Bloodfallen, Guardian of the first three floors of Nazarick."

"A pleasure to meet you," Shalltear gave a small bow towards Walkiria, though her tone was the exact opposite of her words.

"A level 100 NPC to guard the front door?" Walkiria mused out loud, "You must have hated company."

"Many wanted to conquer our guild base and claim it for their own and its treasures," Ainz said darkly, remembering the 1500 strong player raid on the guild base, "Since they thought so highly of us, it was only appropriate that we gave them a warm welcome."

Ainz turned to regard Walkiria as he said this but there was another reason he was looking at her.

"I was right!" Ainz declared inside his head, "She has some kind of scanning ability! Must be a passive, but which one? Gah! I'll have to think of a way to get that information out of her without her noticing! Wait...did she see my stats too? How far can she see..."

A small headache was coming, though not physically. It was a wise decision to directly teleport her to the 9th floor guest suits. Who knows what kind of information she might glean just by looking around her as she passed the floors?

"Ainz-sama, I would like a few moments to speak with Shalltear about something," Albedo said gently, interrupting his thoughts.

"Of course Albedo," Ainz replied absentmindedly.

"Before we go, you'll need this to travel to the 9th floor, Walkiria-san," Ainz said as he produced the [Ring of Honor].

The ring was initially made to accommodate Yamaiko's sister, Akemi, whenever she visited Nazarick. Initially, Yamaiko held the ring since the guild had already voted it was alright to let her younger sister in. However, as time passed the item was given to Ainz when real life concerns took up more and more of the member's time, including Yamaiko which translated to decreased guild activity. Since Ainz was a frequent player and the guild master, it made sense to give him the ring.

With a bit of hesitation, he handed the ring to Walkiria who examined the ring. Ainz didn't really want anyone not affiliated with the guild to be inside his beloved Nazarick, but the situation was unusual, to the say the least. Thus he had no choice but to recruit outside help if he could. If he could do more than maintain Nazarick's strength it would be a great boon. He began imagining his friend's praises when he found them about keeping Nazarick in form when his thoughts were interrupted by a wail of despair.

The two players looked worriedly to the side but found no commotion, just Albedo walking towards them with a gentle smile. Shalltear looked ready to resume her duties and did a small curtsy at Ainz once she noticed him looking at her.

"Albedo, what was that scream?" Ainz inquired worriedly, "An intruder?"

"What scream Ainz-sama? With Shalltear and I here no outsider would be permitted to approach you without permission", Albedo said with her gentle voice, though there was some kind of strong emotion lurking in her eyes. It was like a giant creature swimming below the ocean, ready to breach the waves in an instant.

"Uh, never mind." Ainz momentarily slipped out of his "Imperious Overlord" character, "If it was nothing lets go then. [Teleport]."

* * *

~ Earlier ~

"Hey! What's the deal this time you gor-" Shalltear protested as Albedo dragged her to the side.

"Quiet!" Albedo hissed, "There's a situation..."

"What situation? Did some female manage to catch Ainz-sama's attention other than you?," Shalltear waggled her eyebrows tauntingly, "Hah! Only you could botch up an opportunity like that! You were suppose to be beside him at all times! Guehueheuehue!"

Albedo's face, however, remained stony at the jab.

"Wait, you're serious?!" Shalltear whispered furiously, "He didn't bring anyone else from Nazarick!"

Albedo's eyes made a sideward movement, as swift as a blade strike.

"Her?!" Shalltear almost wailed in disbelief, "How could you let this happen?!"

"I don't know, okay?!" Albedo ground out, "I don't know! Ainz-sama seemed to be eager to talk to her! In private! Did you know he made stand outside while they talked? Or that he left me to guard a few bugs while..."

Albedo recounted the rest of the events that happened in Carne.

"That's..." Shalltear took a step back, her mind in danger of breaking. It felt like a hole in the ground had opened beneath her to swallow her up.

"How...did she. What are we doing wrong?" The vampire Guardian asked weakly. She looked up at Albedo with teary eyes.

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out." Albedo said with determination, "Since this is a crisis, I'll share any intel I get with you. Truce until its over?"

"Yeah, that sounds like a plan," Shalltear said buoyed by Albedo's conviction, "We haven't lost-shit!"

Shalltear's hands had flown to her mouth, but they weren't fast enough to stop the crass expletive.

"What?! What?!" Albedo asked. Her back was turned from her lord but Shalltear's exclamation made her turn with dread.

There, several feet away, Ainz was handing the interloper a ring. A ring Albedo had never seen before. To make matters worse, Walkiria took the ring and examined it as if looking for a _flaw_ before finally slipping it on her finger.

"Eeeeeeiiiiiiiiii!" A high pitched scream escaped from Albedo's lips involuntarily.

"How?! How?! How?!" The overseer fumed. It took a _full day_ for Ainz-sama to give her a ring! But this whore had already gotten one in six hours and fifty three minutes! (She was counting)

The two players turned around to see what the commotion was about. Albedo, however, had taken a step forward and made it look like she had just finished her conversation with Shalltear.

"Albedo, what was that scream?" Ainz asked, "An intruder?"

"No. What scream Ainz-sama?" Albedo replied in her gentlest voice. _Good! He didn't notice!_

"Uh, never mind." Ainz said.

{You were right! It is serious!} Shalltear spoke to her using [Message].

{Now you see how serious it is?! I'll talk to you later when you're free, I have to make sure she doesn't do anything else!"} Albedo answered.

In that moment Ainz opened a portal teleported the three to the 9th Floor.

* * *

~ 9th Floor, Residential Suites of Nazarick ~

"This is the residential floor of Nazarick," Ainz said as he personally escorted Walkiria to her room.

More than a third of the NPCs of Nazarick were designed for its defense and Ainz wouldn't be surprised if a battle erupted if they found an unfamiliar face wandering about. That and she didn't know which way to go. She might end up stumbling into a guild-mate's room and claim it for her own. Ainz simply could not allow either of those situations to happen.

"We spent quite a bit on its construction," Ainz continued proudly, "But since Nazarick's defenses had reached the max level, we made a residential area too."

This was partially true. One of the limitations of Guild Base was the NPCs. Only a certain amount of level 100 NPCs could be created otherwise invading players would be outnumbered and possibly outclassed while the owners kicked back and watched the fun. Another was that there had to be a path to the main room of the base, otherwise enemies could simply be led to a dead end or locked out.

In other words, a Guild Base was only as good as its owners and if they couldn't defend it, they didn't deserve it. It was as simple as that.

The other reason was to buy time. Since any players that managed to breach the 8th Floor were all but assured of victory, the guild decided it would be fitting to meet them in throne room like the evil overlords they roleplayed. Thus, aside from having a bit of personal space among others, the 9th floor's size, Sebas and the Pleiades were for delaying purposes while the guild members gathered for a final stand. However, to date no one had ever made it past the 8th Floor.

Ainz was going to brag about how they stopped a 1500 player strong invasion with mercenary NPCs when he noticed, to his annoyance, that Walkiria didn't seem to be impressed. All the sideward glances he made while he talked showed the same response, the lavender-haired player looked at something and quickly dismissed it as if it was not what she was looking for.

This was the base he and his friends made with their blood and sweat! It was the one place he truly called home as all of his pleasant memories were here. Whenever he got home from work, he would eat a quick meal with a supplement pill then immediately logged into the game. As he had no family left in real life, Ainz considered his friends his real family. This was why their absence hurt him, though he could not really be angry at their decision to quit.

Ainz quashed his negative feelings, some of which were directed to Walkiria for her attitude, even before his passive could kick in. As long as she did not openly insult his comrades, he could let it slide. Maybe he was just imagining things. There was no way a person could read another's thoughts. Now that memories of his friends surfaced in his mind, and he was reminded of his long-term plan, Ainz decided to see if a part of his theory for arriving in this world had some merit.

"Walkiria-san, I've been wondering...did you stay until the end of the server shutdown as well?" Ainz-asked as they arrived at the designated room.

Albedo who had been quietly following them, ready to intervene in case Walkiria tried something brazen, perked up at the unknown phrase. Though her memories were hazy in some instances, she recalled hearing the Supreme Beings saying things she did not understand, like it was a language known only to them. Why would this bitch know what the words meant?!

"Yeah, I did." She replied looking at him, "Since that shithead of a developer wouldn't keep his promise by personally giving us the finger four days before, I figured I had nothing better to do so I went with some people on a last hunt."

Ainz's jaw dropped. Sensing her master's inner turmoil Albedo tensed herself, ready to strike at a mere gesture.

"You..know a developer Walkiria-san?" Ainz asked weakly.

Though players could contact the GM, the direct link to the company, they didn't really interact with them face-to-face. The activity was really no more different than emailing.

If she did know a developer...Oh the injustice!

It meant she could get lots of valuable information, news or even guides beforehand! Maybe even items or locations that players didn't know existed. Ainz was hurt by this as it was pretty much unfair. The early days were marked with much PKing- of him.

"The head-shithead actually," Walkiria answered contemptuously, unknowingly dropping another bomb, "This the room? I'm going to rest a bit and think things over."

 _ **THE**_ head developer?! This was too much!

"Huh? Oh, yeah it is," Ainz mumbled quietly, his inner thoughts still in turmoil, "So you personally knew the head developer..."

He repeated the words mindlessly.

"Of course I do," Walkiria said as she looked back at Ainz, "I'm a Beta after all."

As the door closed in his face, Ainz's mental discomfort washed away.

"How rude! To close the door in your most handsome face Ainz-sama!" Albedo seethed, "I suggest we punish her! Maybe a visit to the Frozen Prison will teach her manners."

However, Ainz wasn't listening.

"Hehehe, HAHAHAHA!" Ainz laughed out loud, "This changes everything! No, this explains a lot of things!"

Indeed upon revealing that she was a Beta-tester many things fell into place. Her unique attire, attack animations, lack of surprise to seeing a level 100 guardian at the entrance, etc. They were all indicators of someone who worked on the game to death! Well, she may or may not be an actual employee but that wasn't the point!

Ainz felt his jealousy evaporate. As a beta player it was her duty to explore every nook and cranny of the game. She was probably told to do whatever she wanted in order for the developers to discover any glitches or other things that might improve the game in her reports. This meant that there were probably no privileges given and that she had to explore as much as everyone else, the only difference was that it was her job!

"Ainz-sama? Are you alright?" Albedo asked worriedly.

"Yes, I'm fine! Quite fine!" Ainz responded cheerfully, "So she's a beta! That explains a lot."

"A Beta?" Albedo asked.

The only Beta she knew was Lupusregina Beta, a mere battle maid, but the connection seemed unlikely.

"Ah, yes, you don't know about them," Ainz said, finally calming down.

"I am most sorry for my igno-"

"No, no. That's alright." Ainz cut her off, "I will introduce her to the guardians soon, as well as my plans for the future."

"I see. Are you going back to your rooms Ainz-sama?" Albedo asked with a lewd smile, "Perhaps to do some...de-stressing?~"

"N-no, I'll be heading to the Throne Room."

He'd be safer there, if that look she was giving him was any indication.

Just then a maid rounded the corner and Ainz called her over.

The maid rushed over as fast as she could and Ainz was afraid she'd trip in her haste but she approached without anything untoward happening. In fact she looked quite happy that Ainz had noticed her.

"There is a guest here," Ainz instructed to her, "See to it that any of her requests are met."

"Yes master." She bowed respectfully.

* * *

~ Nazarick, 9th Floor Guest Room ~

Walkiria shut the door in front Ainz as soon as she gave her answer. She couldn't wait to get out of his face and his attack bitch who was shooting death glares her way the entire time. Not with the situation as it was.

She looked around the room, which had the appearance of the presidential suit of a five star hotel. Walkiria approached a chair and ran her hand on the seat.

Real. But it wasn't to her taste.

Moving a bit deeper into its luxurious interior she found a high-back chair in front of a non-lit fireplace which promised a bit of comfort. She sat in it and was not disappointed.

However, she was not here to relax but to think. It might take a while so it would be best if she was comfortable.

First SAO, _now_ she was transported to a different world?

However, what was bothering her was not the fact the she was transported to a different world. When a lunatic held your mind and body hostage with a "death game" some things suddenly didn't seem unbelievable anymore. No it was what she had observed ever since coming here.

After being "selected" to beta test, and a crash course on how to do the work properly beyond playing, Walkiria's observational skills were further sharpened beyond the self-taught street-smarts players in SAO were forced to learn. As a result she began to notice things on a technical level that most people would have dismissed or glossed over. All of them pointed to Ainz.

After their initial encounter, Walkiria noticed a few odd things. One of the first was the gear Ainz wore. His speech clearly indicated he was a player as he dropped some words that only people from Earth would know, but she had never seen equipment like that.

ANO's equipment had a distinctive look to them and his equipment matched nothing of the sort. There were gaudy designs, but his were on a different level.

Then things snowballed from there. Whenever Ainz used a spell she couldn't understand a word he said. It was like a foreign language to her. Then when they arrived at his precious little clubhouse (which he wouldn't stop talking about) no item ever looked like it was from ANO.

Being a Beta Tester was harder than people realized. Walkiria spent hours cataloguing items, sending reports and other duties her "job" required of her. No matter how big a game was, there would always be a couple of familiar things to see. None of them were here.

Neither did she hear of the Guild "Ainz Ooal Gown". With the small Beta population in ANO, it was difficult for a guild to go unnoticed, because there were only seven of them. Plus, the name simply did not make sense. Guilds in ANO had _real_ words to them and generally meant something which was the basis of their founding. None of them sounded like an internet meme.

The final nail to the coffin though was during their earlier conversation in the cabin when Ainz mentioned DRMMO _not_ VRMMO. Walkiria dismissed it as a slip of the tongue, but with all the evidence in front of her she was now convinced that they weren't from the same game...or even the same dimension.

She sighed and massaged her head.

Okay, maybe that last one was a bit too farfetched but the other theories in her head were equally weird. So...other universe it is. It appeared that some higher power wasn't done throwing shit at her life yet.

Walkiria didn't know how much time passed but by the time she looked up she saw a young girl dressed in a maid outfit standing near dividing door to the room.

"What is it?" Walkiria asked, sounding a bit more irritated than she intended.

"Ainz-sama has ordered me to see to your needs." The maid replied with a distinct lack of enthusiasm.

 _Great. Another one of his bootlickers._

"You can start by standing there and not bothering me."

The maid bowed wordlessly and moved out of sight. However, Walkiria caught a flash of hostility in the maid's eyes and she smiled humorlessly.

The days spent in Aincrad had taught her, and presumably anyone smart enough to survive, to know when someone was wearing a mask. Despite all those years that had passed the harsh lessons never went away. It would take more than a pretty face to lull her into complacency. Still, it would be amusing for the maid to try something.

What could a level 1 NPC do to a Level 140 Player anyway?

* * *

~ Throne Room, Nazarick, One day later ~

"Ainz Ooal Gown Banzai!" The roar of approval echoed throughout the gigantic room.

"Hmmm." Ainz nodded positively. He expected in the worst case scenario someone would disapprove but none had done so even after her ordered the Guardians to be honest.

Ainz had announced his adoption of the guild name in order to spread it across this world. Hopefully it would reach any of his friends that were transported here as well. His talk with Walkiria earlier had greatly boosted his hopes that his friends ha arrived. After all, staying at the time around the server shutdown seemed to be the common factor.

 _Hmmm, but did that mean there were more players transported? It would be troublesome if that were the case._

Ainz had spent a day and a half readying his speech in various forms. These ranged from the use of certain words to the pitch of his voice. He also prepared to answer any foreseeable questions they might have.

All in the privacy of his room of course.

He couldn't let word spread amongst the NPCs that the Guild Master of Nazarick was anything less than what they expected. To do so would bring shame to the memory of his friends.

There was brief silence after the shouts, which was quickly turning awkward.

"Hmmm, If this were a TV show this would be the part where the ending credits rolled," Ainz mused.

He was in fairly good spirits after the Guardians' unanimous approval, but this was the real world (now) and there was work to be done.

"Mare, how goes the work to conceal Nazarick?" Ainz inquired.

"Y-yes! I-it is finished Ainz-sama!" Mare stuttered but he fidgeted slightly indicating there was something else he wanted to say.

"Come now, speak up." Ainz urged him gently.

"Ainz-sama! Ainz-sama!" Aura raised an arm and waived it excitedly.

"Ah, Mare must have told her first," Ainz thought as he gave his permission for Aura to explain, "They are siblings after all."

"We found a nest of Rock Griffs while Mare was putting up the finishing touches of the landscape!" Aura said happily, "The mother ran away when Mare approached, leaving her nest and hatchlings. Can I raise them? Please?"

"Rock Griffs?" Ainz wondered.

Rock Griffs were Hippogriffs in Yggdrasil that had the Earth and Air attributes. So they were here as well. Still...their level was too low to pose any threat to Nazarick, even if there was a flock of them. Their level was randomly generated from Level 30-35. Aura probably wanted them as pets rather than support creatures. It looked like she really was a kid at heart.

"No harm in saying yes," Ainz decided, "Plus, I could see if we can tame or even breed animals from the game."

"Very well."

Aura thanked Ainz profusely but he waved her off after the fifth bow.

"Now then, do you have any questions?" Ainz asked the assembled Guardians, "I will answer any you may have as best as I can."

The mood instantly shifted and became more serious.

"Ainz-sama, we have heard that you brought an outsider within Nazarick..."

It was Demiurge who voiced the Guardian's question among themselves. He spoke slowly, respectfully, for fear of offending his master. None of them could comprehend the thought processes of a Supreme Being and they all stumbled to catch up to their plans.

"Ahh, yes, you mean Walkiria." Ainz replied, stroking his chin.

"Yes Ainz-sama! Did you bring her here for interrogation?"

Demiurge broke out in a cold sweat. This time it was Albedo who spoke up.

"You're too forward!" Demiurge wanted to shout, but instead kept his cool.

She might be able to get away with such things because she was the Overseer, but that didn't mean the Supreme Being's patience was infinite.

"She will be of great aid to my plans in the future," Ainz finally answered, "To that end I have secured her cooperation. We can't let such useful abilities wander about, it would be best if we add her strength to Nazarick's-"

A clatter could be heard followed by a wail of grief.

"Ainz-sama! Ainz-sama!" Cocytus sobbed prostrating himself before the throne looking like the insect he was based on. His weapon had fallen to the ground, such was the despair of the warrior NPC.

"We. Have. Failed. You!" He continued to cry, "To. Have. To. Resort. To. Finding. New. Servants... We. Promise. Not. To. Fail. You. Ever. Again. Please. Forgive. Us. This. One. Time."

Since he couldn't cry, instead steam vented from Cocytus' mandibles as he cried in front of Ainz.

"Eh? What's he talking about?" Ainz wondered, completely perplexed.

"T-that's right Ainz-sama!" Shalltear spoke up, "We're not as brilliant as you, so we might have messed up somewhere...but if you give us orders we will follow them to our dying breath!"

"Oh! They think they misinterpreted an order from me and that I was disappointed by bringing in new help!" Ainz realized.

Sometimes he could forget how loyal they were and it gladdened his heart.

"There, there. I am not disappointed in any of you in the slightest," He reassured them, "Cocytus, stop crying."

"Yes. Ainz-sama. Thank. You." Cocytus sniffled. The rest of the Guardians breathed sigh of relief.

"I brought her in not because you have failed me, but because during our time together I noticed she possessed certain unique skills that would be of great benefit for Nazarick." Ainz explained.

"Time together...noticed..."

Demiurge heard Albedo mumble but he ignored her as he tried to focus on his master's explanation. He would learn so much every time Ainz-sama spoke! Next time, he would choose a position far away from Albedo so as not to be distracted.

"...And these were the indicators of why she could do these things and she had confirmed it when we arrived." Ainz finished.

 _Damn it Albedo! I missed the good parts!_

"Well, then if there no more questions..."

"Ainz-sama if I may?" This time it was the "elderly" Butler of Steel, Sebas.

"No you may not!" Ainz panicked internally, despite giving the go ahead.

It simply did not do to be caught unaware during a corporate presentation. The presenter was expected to have studied the reports carefully when reporting to the boss, so any question unanswered was the fault of the researcher, not the presenter but in this situation there were simply too many factors for Ainz to consider.

"What is a Beta?"

"Oh! I know this!" Ainz thought relieved, almost tempted to sag with relief, "Still, news or rather gossip travels fast even in Nazarick."

Ainz felt that his secret practice and preparation about acting the part of an overlord was vindicated.

"Hmmm, how shall I put this?" Ainz said. In reality he was considering on how to present real world terms to the NPCs since they didn't know what they meant.

Wait! That line was good for delay! It would definitely be entering his notebook on compiled lines, phrases and actions.

"Before there were any players, no before there was even Yggdrasil as we knew it, the world was a chaotic mess..."

"Oooh!" The Guardians let out a collective sound of wonder. Some had their mouths in the shape of an "O". They had never before heard of any of this, being concerned with their duties above all else.

"Looks like Aura and Mare aren't the only children here." Ainz thought. Yes, they were in a sense, the children of his comrades.

"During those times there were certain...anomalies in the world itself that could make life a living hell for players," Ainz continued, as he attempted to find synonyms for bugs and glitches, "Some could be as harmless or annoying as being unable to traverse the terrain, items disappearing or unable to be used, others are not so humorous. Spells could fail to work as they should and players could even end up in places they should not be."

He could see he was losing them so Ainz decided to limit his examples here.

"It was thus the duty of Beta-Players, also known as Testers to find and...deal with these anomalies. Without them, it would not be a stretch to say any of us would be here."

 _Everyone would quit due to how buggy the game was. That was what Ainz wanted to say._

"But Ainz-sama, what if that _creature_ turns out to be hostile?" Albedo asked with concern.

The residents of Nazarick had acknowledged that the Supreme Beings were of the class known as "Players" aside from the race their own form took. Based on this, they knew there other Players out there but while their power could challenge the Supreme Beings, their masters could never be truly defeated. Though their loyalty came by virtue of being created but most of them had remembered the terrible battle wherein an alliance of 1500 villainous players attempted to capture the home of their creators but were repulsed by their cunning and strength.

Demiurge, however, was intrigued by what he heard. Beings who manipulated time and space- the very world itself- so it would be safe for Players to live in Yggdrasil. Could such a power really exist?

"Do not worry," Ainz assured her, "We have an understanding. You see those hooligans that attacked Nazarick in the past had a reason. Greed. Hatred. Rivalry. Walkiria, however, is different. From what I gather she was preoccupied with her prior duties and so she is not even remotely interested in bringing harm to Nazarick."

"So busy with work that she didn't even bother to listen to Yggdrasil news!" Ainz thought annoyedly. How could she even work like that?

Repelling that invasion was no mean feat. Any guild could make the top twenty based on numerous factors but that event had helped put Ainz Ooal Gown's name on everyone's lips. Well, everyone except the game company and its employees apparently. Probably more interested in making money off players. Those shitty devs.

Ainz unintentionally scowled, though it could net be seen due to his skeletal face.

"As expected Ainz-sama!" Demiurge thought with admiration, "To have convinced another Player to work for the glory of Nazarick within a day!"

If he worked hard maybe his master would reward him with some knowledge. Much like how Cocytus fantasized about training and protecting Ainz's heir, Demiurge imagined a scene where Ainz taught him all sorts of things and how he greedily devoured the information. However, the image was ruined when he heard the grinding of teeth from Shalltear and Albedo. After that, his master seemed to shift moods...almost like he was frowning.

These constant questions by Albedo were probably irritating the great one.

* * *

~ 9th Floor, Nazarick, Cixious ~

Homunculus maids. There were forty one of them. For this particular one, her creator had blessed her with long golden hair and amber eyes. The maid, Cixious was her given name, now stood in the dark, standing dutifully to one side as she strove to obey her master's orders.

To answer to an outsider.

While Cixious was as loyal as they could get that didn't mean they had their own opinion of things. To even the maids of Nazarick anyone born outside of Nazarick was to be pitied, deprived of the glorious presence of the Supreme Beings. It was therefore natural for her to be apprehensive of being so near to a foreigner of her creator's home.

At first she was delighted to be selected by Ainz-sama for a task. Even if he ordered her to clean the entirety of Nazarick with just a cloth and a bucket of water she would be happy. Indeed numerous happy thoughts floated in her mind during the short walk into the guest room.

 _Wait till the others hear about this!_

 _Teehee!~ Notice me more Ainz-sama!~_

However, once she entered the room she was assaulted by a vile pressure as she struggled to see in the darkness. Her master's presence made the air heavy, and made her want to bow down in reverence but the aura emitted by the player in the room felt...wrong. It was not the mere hostility the denizens of Nazarick felt for outsiders, but rather a primal feeling that something shouldn't exist.

As her eyes adjusted to the dark she could make out the "guest's" silhouette.

Thankfully, she was not human.

Two large, curved wings spread out behind her while two smaller ones, about the size of Cixious' arms, draped themselves comfortably on the armrests.

"What is it?!" The player snapped irritably when she noticed her enter.

"Ainz-sama has ordered me to see to your needs." Cixious replied emotionlessly.

"You can start by standing there and not bothering me."

 _Sounds simple enough._

What Cixious did not expect though was that the player would remain immobile for over a day. As a Level 1 creation she suffered from certain penalties such as having to constantly eat. By now she was getting dizzy, and the fatigue was getting to her. It was almost 29 hours since she last ate. More than once Cixious thought she could hear white noise, but she remained not only standing but upright in order to fulfill Ainz's orders.

Still the player did not move from her spot.

"Okay, that enough for now." Cixious her say a couple of hours later.

She stood up and stretched, wings included, and looked around the room.

"Still here?" the guest asked in what Cixious presumed to be a mocking tone, "I thought you'd have left by now."

The guest moved towards her with serpentine grace. In a few moments, what little light there was in the room was obscured by her form. Her red irises glowed, leaving them the only source of "light" for Cixious at the moment.

"Ainz-sama has given me an order," Cixious replied, unafraid, "And I will not disappoint him."

"And what a good little NPC you are!" The player replied scornfully, "I heard the last few times your stomach growled you know? In fact, it reminded me that I was hungry as well."

A hand reached out and grasped her throat, tightening ever so slightly. In one swift move, Walkiria's sharpened nail cut off part of the collar of Cixious's maid outfit to reveal her bare neck.

"This-this outsider dares damage the equipment given by my creators!" Cixious remained silent, but she was raging within her mind.

She felt a pressure as her head was slowly tilted to the side with monstrous ease and the Player brought her face close enough...and sniffed her neck.

This time, Cixious' eyes widened with fear when she saw from the corner of her vision the Player's canines extend outwards.

"Hmmm...smells good. Itadakakimasu~"

* * *

~ Somewhere in the Kingdom of Re-estize ~

"What should we do Captain?"

"I don't know yet Alyssa, I'll consult-"

"Hey! He's waking up!"

"Huh? What?" the unconscious form blinked his eyes groggily as he slowly raised his head.

The clear blue sky's view was blocked by two people. One was a young man with black hair and red eyes. Though he did not wear a helmet the rest of his body was covered with ornate armor. In one of his hands was a spear, ready to be used but casually held. It was the most humble looking of his gear.

Beside him, bending over the recently unconscious young man's form was girl with blond hair and brilliant blue eyes. She wore a white and green outfit that covered most of her body and part of her head. Something about the apparel gave off a feeling of warmth and security just by being around the wearer.

The two took a step back as the stranger righted himself into a sitting position.

The person was a person apparently in his twenties with black, slightly curly, hair and deep brown eyes. His physique was well built, but not enough to considered muscled. He wore a pair of deep black pants while his arms and feet were covered with matt dark gray armor, though both looked to be in terrible condition,...and that was it. Aside from the those equipment, the young man wore nothing else.

"Where am I? What happened?" He half mumbled.

"You're in the Kingdom," The girl, Alyssa, replied, "We found you by the roadside as we were passing by."

"What happened? Did you get into a fight?" Now it was Alyssa's turn to ask the questions.

"I..."

A sharp pain tore through his head as jumbled images appeared in his memory.

 _Black wings..._

 _A black and red scythe screaming towards his neck, its owner with murder in her eyes..._

"I...I don't remember much." He answered, fighting down the pain, "But I definitely remember a fight."

"I see." Came another, voice. This time it was the young man with the spear.

During the conversation, he had tilted the spear slightly so that if the stranger suddenly attacked all he needed to do was let his opponent impale himself.

He had accompanied Alyssa when they detected a faint life presence while they were traveling through the forest. It was faint, but it was also felt...different.

Alyssa was their youngest member, and looked the most non-threatening and was thus "volunteered" to investigate. If it was just some random passerby, maybe a lost adventurer, they could simply brush it off as a chance encounter. If not, if by some freak turn of events they might run into the traitor Clementine, then the captain was confident he could protect Alyssa and buy a few seconds of time for the others who were lying in wait.

Despite Clementine's fearsome (and sadistic) reputation he was sure of himself. This was because he was Kairon, Captain of the Black Scripture of the Slane Theocracy.

Thankfully it was not their former psychopathic member. Just someone who looked like they got on the bad side of an Ogre. Probably an adventurer who decided to hold off said Ogre to let his teammates escape. However...there was no sign of a fight anywhere.

"Who are you?" Kairon asked in a quiet but authoritative tone, "Surely you remember at least that?"

"My name?" Though they could not see it, there was another lance of pain through the stranger's head as he tried to recall what exactly happened to him.

Ah, that's right...

 _K-_

 _It began with a K..._

"My name is Kazuki..."

* * *

Author's note:

Well, Here's chapter 4. I'll be the first to admit that there isn't much going on here. This should have been at the end of chapter 3 but these two were getting two long for me.

While the explanation here of Betas has some real life elements I added some fanciful elements that I gleaned from the early parts of the SAO anime such as how Betas continue to play even after the "Final Version" of the game is released. Besides, who's to know what changes there may be to the job in future.

With this out of the way we can now resume the adventure starting from vol. 2. The last segment was a massive fix to problem with the plot that had a pre-planned event...but no way to connect the two. So its fixed now.

I know that some of you have been waiting for the "We stopped 1500+ players from invading!" conversation. However, given the surrounding events in this chapter there is a much better event to drop that coversation in the succeeding volumes cannon.

Until next time.


	5. Chapter 5

Godkin

Disclaimer: I do not own Overlord or Sword Art Online

* * *

~ Nazarick, 9th Floor, Residential Areas ~

"Damn, that was rough," Ainz thought as he walked through the hallways of the 9th Floor, "Demiurge is a lifesaver, I'll have to find a way to thank him later."

Earlier on Ainz had announced his intention to wander about in disguise in order to collect more information about this world. He was sure those people being tortured by Neuronist Painkill were going to provide useful intel, but given the primitive state of things he'd seen so far, he had to assume that it was limited. It was even quite possible their knowledge would only be limited to their home country.

Upon hearing this the Guardians exploded with cries of protest saying that it was too dangerous to go alone or some other variant of that argument. This opposition was expected on his part so Ainz announced that he was taking Walkiria with him. He reasoned that she would be able spot players much faster with her as-of-yet unknown scanning ability and that as a Beta-Player she was used to exploring the unknown.

He was confident that this would be enough to placate the Guardians as the reasons were well grounded in logic but it appeared to have the opposite effect.

Like a volcanos simultaneously erupting Albedo and Shalltear yelled and shouted to the point where he was temporarily deafened, even though he was a Lich. The last things he heard were cries along the lines of "Why?!" "Why her Ainz-sama?!" "Ainz-sama, she is dangerous! Only I can adequately provide-" "Ainz-sama you still love me right?! Right?!"

Things reached a head when Albedo began to march upwards towards him, with Shalltear closely behind.

Before they could reach him, however, Demiurge place his hands on their shoulders and whispered something in their ears. Their angry expressions vanished to be replaced by smiling faces as they turned towards him.

"Forgive our shameful display, Ainz-sama," Albedo bowed apologetically.

"We were worried about you that is all," Shalltear bowed as well.

"Ah, well. It is no problem." Ainz awkwardly answered wondering what Demiurge said to them. He was never _that_ good with women.

"Ainz-sama, your brilliant plan to bring that Player with you is as expected for someone of your greatness," Demiurge said, "However, I believe we were getting to the part where you would announce the daily time to [Message] us to ensure that you are well?"

"Eh? I wasn't planning on saying anything like that at all!" Ainz thought worriedly.

He just wanted to explore this world so he could decide how to best locate his friends and what to do in the meantime.

"Hmmm, let's see..."

After a few seconds Ainz gave the time he thought people would most likely not moving about or busy.

"Ah, being a boss is harder than it looks," Ainz thought as he continued his walk.

Now that he had mentioned her, it had been a full two days since he had met Walkiria and he thought it would be best if he checked up on her.

He reached her room and knocked gently. When no response came he looked sideways to see if anyone was about. Since there were none, he opened the door and entered.

The room was dark, with barely any illumination but since he had nightvision Ainz could see just fine. He passed the room's dividing door and saw Walkiria hunched over, her wings extended outwards. Only as he got nearer did he notice there were two other arms spread out behind her.

"What in the..." Ainz looked in horror as he finally saw that Walkiria's mouth was clamped on the maid's neck, making seductive motions as she drained the NPC dry.

"What are you doing Walkiria-san!?" Ainz finally gathered his wits.

He strode forward and attempted to pry them apart but the player was like she was made of concrete. To his horror Walkiria clamped down even tighter on the maid's neck as if unwilling to let go. The maid mewled sadly, like a sick kitten.

 _Thank god, she's still alive!_

"Stop that!" Ainz resumed his efforts once more, this time he resorted to beating his fists on Walkiria to no effect. His STR wasn't high enough.

"Oi! Stop it I say! Don't eat the maid!"

The player mumbled something before finally looking up.

Finally she spoke, with the maid's neck still in her mouth, "Oh, hish, Ainsh. Toof you lonft enougfth."

She unclamped her mouth and the maid fell to the floor like a sack of potatoes.

"You could have killed her!" Ainz yelled as he lifted the maid protectively close to him.

"Yeah, well people do weird things when they're hungry." Walkiria said, licking her lips of blood.

Rage was boiling in Ainz's heart as he brought the maid to the bed and set her down, putting himself between her and Walkiria. The maid's skin was ashen though her face was locked in a rictus of ecstasy. There were two massive holes at the side of her neck wide enough to put your fingers through. It was a miracle she wasn't decapitated when Walkiria bit into her.

He withdrew a potion from his inventory and administered it to the girl.

"Uh, what are you doing?" Walkiria asked, peering over his shoulders.

Ainz waited, making sure the potion took effect before answering her.

"Healing her!" Ainz answered angrily, "Why did you do that?!"

"Because I was hungry," Walkiria repeated as if he couldn't comprehend her earlier answer, "Why are you so worked up?"

Rage boiled upwards from the depths of Ainz's heart only to be brutally suppressed by his passive.

 _Let me get angry damn it_!

"These NPCs were made by my friends Walkiria." Ainz said more calmly this time, though he was clearly still as emotional as he could get.

"Its just a level 1 NPC." Walkiria asked, confused, "Do you need to have the whole set or something?"

"They are all precious to me!" Ainz responded heatedly.

"Really? What's her name then?"

The question stopped Ainz in the middle of his rant. He didn't know.

"Yeah, thought so," Walkiria snorted, "Listen to me Ainz, I'm not one of your little pet NPCs who bark when told. You disappear for two days without a word and expect everything to be just fine?"

"No: 'Hey! Walkiria! Ainz here! I'm real busy managing stuff on the premises, hope your not _hungry_ or anything. I totally did not forget about you. 'kay thanks bye!' " Walkiria spoke in a mocking tone.

"That's..." No matter how much he wanted to, Ainz couldn't even muster an ember or rage within him.

His logical undead mind threw reasons at him like how he was being inconsiderate to his guest who had initially done nothing wrong, that he had left her alone to pursue his other plans or that as a solo-player she didn't understand the bonds he had with his friends. Each was like a knife cut, insufficient to bring him dow individually, but together there were just too many reasons on why this happened and he was responsible for it.

 _What the hell? I'm the bad guy now? She was going to eat a maid!_ He tried to muster his anger again.

Walkiria grabbed his chin and slowly forced him to look at her crimson eyes.

"I've had it _tough_ before Ainz," Walkiria said in a low angry voice, "I didn't need help back then and I certainly don't need help now, most especially from _you_. You haven't experienced shit. If you're going to lose it over an NPC whose name you don't even know, say the word and I'm gone. I'll even give your little ring back seeing as it's probably _precious_ as well."

"I wouldn't expect you to understand!" Ainz yelled back, "...But you're right. I've been a poor host. I'm sorry."

The apology merely raised a disbelieving eyebrow from the other player.

"Just so you know, I'm only letting this slide because this maid isn't dead," Ainz warned. This was one issue he was not backing away from, the safety of everyone in Nazarick.

"Oh good. I was actually afraid you were sincere there for a moment," Walkiria snarked, "I wouldn't know what I'd do in _that_ situation."

Both halted their talk when they heard a low murmur. The maid had woken up.

At first her eyes looked sideways, confused as to why she was lying down. Then her eyes widened when she saw Ainz standing in front of her.

"Ainz-sama! P-please forgive my laziness! I appear to have fainted." She planted her forehead on the floor, "I promise I will do-"

"That's enough!" Ainz said gently, "In hindsight I should have ordered a shift. This was an unnecessary burden on you, I seem to have forgotten the time."

"Yeah, that's the whole story." Walkiria rolled her eyes. Ainz ignored her.

"Take a break for now, that's an order. You must be hungry." Ainz instructed.

"Thank you Ainz-sama!" The maid bowed before hurriedly leaving. Apparently she didn't remember becoming a snack.

"Now then, Walkiria-san, I'll introduce you to the Sous-chef-" Ainz noticed that Walkiria's eyes were still hungrily trailing the maid who had just left, "-so that you won't be eating the maids!"

* * *

~ Somewhere in the Re-Estize Kingdom ~

The embers of the humble fire cracked as Kairon sat in front of it. Minutes ago, he was joined by some of the members. The gathering looked like friends who decided to seek out each other's comfort when they were unable to sleep. Only it wasn't.

As members of the Black Scripture, the top secret branch of the Theocracy's special forces, they were used to sleeping at anytime of the day. They were kept secret, after weighing the pros and cons of such, by the council because more than half of the members were of a very particular lineage: godkin. The descendants of the gods who raised humans from mere slaves and food to a force to be reckoned with in this world.

Needless to say, any information about their existence could lead to an endless conflict with the Dragon Lords, the previous masters of this world and users of Wild Magic. Powerful creatures even without their magic, Dragons could not be easily killed but against massed armies of humans with the gifts of the gods, they could be challenged. Only their gods could challenge one head-on and survive but they had departed from the world generations ago, with only their gifts and their style of magic left as evidence of their existence...and their heirs. In short, neither Humans nor Dragons could truly wipe each other out and the conflict between them would be long and grueling for both sides. There would also be the issue of other countries trying to find their own "godkin" leading to an international arms race.

One of the first few members who arrived by his side was a magic caster, specializing in Information Magic. She had cast a [Silence] spell around the campfire so that sounds were suppressed, but other things such as light and heat were not. Soon, all of the members gathered around.

"So...this about the guy we picked up?" A member asked. Vardun, was his name.

Though he was no godkin, he wielded a giant, enchanted hammer to great effect. To the point where all he needed was one hit to slay most beasts or demi-humans. Even a Beastman General would fall before him if he could get a shot in.

"Quite obviously," Another member with a refined air about him spoke out, "I don't see why we should bother taking him us. We should either kill him or leave him."

"We could have, but it was just bad luck that he woke up before you could leave," The speaker this time was a girl who looked to be wearing a schoolgirl outfit. No one in the Theocracy knew about this of course, they had simply assumed it was one of the items an acolyte of their six gods should wear to grant them power.

"We can't just kill him!" Alyssa almost yelled out, "Or even leave him!"

"Have a crush on him or something kid?" Vardun grunted.

"Please be aware that after your minimum years of service are over, you are supposed to marry into a family with the godkin bloodline Alyssa not with some random stranger you encounter on the road."

Alyssa turned in fury at the one who joined the conversation. He had a thin smile on his face that made him greatly resemble the traitor Clementine. It did not help that he was her twin brother, Constantine.

"But in all seriousness," Constantine said in a more serious tone, "We're on a mission to stop the resurrection of a Dragon Lord. We can't afford to slow down. Leave him or kill him, either way we must complete our mission. _Lives_ depend on it."

"Are we really protectors of humanity if we just murder someone we decided to stumble on?" Alyssa fired back, "God of Light, he's lost his memories! I doubt he even knows where he is, let alone find out we're a Scripture."

"If we bring him along, he might just piece it together," The one with the refined air spoke.

"Kaire-sama, what should we do?" Kairon asked quietly.

The captain addressed an elderly lady in a white cheongsam with a golden dragon embossed in it. Technically she, Kaire, was the one they were escorting since only she could use [Downfall of Castle and Country] in her generation and her successor had yet to be found and trained.

"I have served with three captains in the past," Though her voice was still strong it was now tinged with age as Kaire spoke, "They all asked me the same question when faced with a hard choice, and my answer will be the same:

Its your call."

"Your predecessors were the same, Kairon-san," Kaire continued, "They were all talented young men who were unreasonably thrust into a position of authority at a young age. Sadly, you aren't that special a case compared to the others. Just like them, you and you alone will decide who lives and who dies."

The talk continued for about an hour as Kairon listened, his spear resting on his shoulder.

"We're passing by a city, E-Rantel, on the way to our objective," Kairon spoke when he felt the arguments were going around in circles, "We'll leave him near a path to it."

Alyssa beamed at the declaration but Kairon wasn't finished.

"We move at our previous speed," He continued, "If he falls behind, _he will be left behind_."

Alyssa's face fell, even as the other members got up to resume their sleep.

Very few people could keep up with godkin, and most of them were here, in the Black Scripture.

* * *

~ Nazarick, Frozen Prison, Two days later... ~

"Welcome, sister~" Nigredo gently rocked the doll her creator set as part of her settings to activate, "To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

"I need a favor, onee-chan," Albedo smiled beatifically, however, being her sister, Nigredo could sense something was wrong.

"Did something happen?" Nigredo asked, "I am sorry but I don't go out often. The only news I hear are from the gossip of some of (sentient) undead guards. Does this have to do with the new guests Neuronist is...entertaining?"

"It does indeed have something to do with a "guest", but one that is a potential danger to Nazarick and my beloved." Albedo's mood darkened.

"Really? Do tell," Nigredo said, becoming attentive, "I have heard there is another Player here who is not Akemi-sama."

Albedo proceeded to tell Nigredo of the events thus far, along with her conclusions as to why Walkiria was trying take Ainz away from her. However, after the recounting Nigredo could only shake her head doubtfully.

"What is it? Do you not support my claim as Ainz-sama's main wife?" Albedo asked a bit annoyed.

"It is not that," Nigredo said, "But what you are suggesting is that I spy on a guest Momo-Ainz-sama has personally brought in. This is skirting the line of rebellion sister."

"I am not asking you to observe her so that I can pounce when she isn't looking," Albedo replied, "Merely that she be observed in case she proves to be a liability to Nazarick."

To Nigredo, it seemed that that was what Albedo was specifically asking for in the first place.

"What if Ainz-sama notices?" Nigredo tried one last time to dissuade her younger sister.

"I will take full responsibility," Albedo replied confidently, sensing victory, "I will simply tell him what I told you. Kuku~ After all, a husband understands that his wife must manage the household. Teheehee!"

Nigredo sighed. Sometimes, she wondered why she even tried with Albedo.

"Very well, but I will hold you to your promise," Nigredo said as she activated her spell [Bird's Eye], "I do not wish to incur the wrath of a Supreme Being."

"Of course," Albedo reassured her, "Now how about some tea? Tabula Smaragdina-sama left me me a some great items in my inventory besides gear!"

Reaching into her own inventory space, Albedo pulled out a teapot that warmed itself and two beautiful cups and their complimentary saucers. Within a few moments the tea, already at bearable temperature, was ready.

"Hmmm, does this Player have lavender hair just past her shoulders and a pair of black wings?" Nigredo asked, observing the image in front of her.

"Yes, that's her." Albedo replied as she poured herself a cup. _The bitch._

"She's still in the room on the 9th floor right?"

"No she's on the way here."

"What?!" Albedo spilled the tea she was pouring for her elder sister as she rose abruptly to get a look.

"Ainz-sama is also with her it seems." Nigredo turned around to face her.

Albedo looked into the spell's observation window and indeed saw the outsider...walking side by side with the love of her life. While that would have been bad in and of itself, the situation was worse. Much worse.

Ainz kept stealing glances at Walkiria as they walked through the light snowfall of the fifth floor. Albedo recognized that look. It was the look of a man that desired a woman but was too bashful to find the right words to express his feelings.

 _Why doesn't he look at ME that way?! I have wings too!_

Apparently, Walkiria noticed Ainz's behavior and gave, of all things, an annoyed look to her master and said something. Nazarick's overseer couldn't understand why, it was the dream of every female in Nazarick come true! Wait...was she playing hard to get? Was that her strategy?

"Can we hear what they're saying?" Albedo asked through gritted teeth. That must be it!

"Yes we can," Nigredo said, oblivious of the soon-to-erupt volcano behind her. She activated another spell and within a moment Ainz's voice came through clearly just as if they were across a silent room.

"Ah...sorry. Its just that...your wings look really nice. The way they lock together to form a-"

"RAEFGWEHAAAAGH!" Albedo clawed at the image of Walkiria, though the only effect was to distort the image and muddle her reply to Ainz.

"Hey, that was getting good." Nigredo thought, a bit annoyed.

"SHE HASN'T WON YET!" Albedo roared angrily as she stomped out of the room to greet Ainz who was heading towards the prison.

"Nice to see you too." Nigredo deadpanned as she continued to observe the the two Players.

"Oh!~ Nigredo onee-chan! Thanks for all the help!" Albedo stuck her head back in before she finally left to teleport out of the floor.

Nigredo smiled, however, as she turned to the image it cracked and shattered into a million pieces. The master of Nazarick's anti-observation abilities had kicked in and negated her spell. Ah, well Albedo got what she came for. It didn't surprise her that Nazarick's master was so adept at quickly shooting down any unwanted attention. He was, after all, the leader of the Supreme Beings.

"Hmmm, this is really good tea." Nigredo took a sip of the tea Albedo left behind.

* * *

~ 5th Floor, Frozen Prison ~

"You've doing that for some time now," Walkiria said in an even voice, "I didn't think I'd ever meet a perverted skeleton before this."

"Eh?! She noticed?!" Ainz was surprised.

He had looked over himself in the mirror several times to determine if he could generate facial expressions. It would look bad if his emotions were plainly visible. It would tarnish his reputation as a leader. However, predictably his skeletal face couldn't make any expressions. The closest he ever got to in his acting was to decrease or increase the size of his floating red "eyes" or to drop his jaw. Eye movement seemed to be the one aspect his undead form didn't change.

"Ah...sorry. Its just that...your wings look really nice. The way they lock together to form a cape-like appearance is nice and all." He said, deciding to be honest, "If I knew something like that was possible I would have considered something other than my undead form when making my avatar."

Indeed, from a distance, Walkiria looked like a human with a short-cape on. Like a mid-tier magic caster. Ainz theorized this led to the doom of many Warrior or Thief class who thought they had an easy kill only to get into a fight with a melee-type solo-player.

"That's the worst pick-up line I've ever heard." Walkiria sounded unconvinced by his explanation, despite being true, "Relax. I'm joking. Hey, someone's watching..."

Ainz looked up to see a crack appear in the sky only for it vanish as quickly as it came.

"Ah, I forgot to mention," Ainz explained, "Aside from being a prison, this floor also houses an observation type NPC. I think she noticed us and decided to take a look. My passive must've blocked it."

"Damn, should have left that out, she already knows too much." Ainz thought, before he pushed down the petty emotion.

Truth be told, he was still angry at Walkiria for what she had done to the maid. However, the more he thought about it, the more Ainz was angry at himself for several reasons. The first being was that he didn't adequately prepare for the arrival of a guest beyond a room. The second was how he realized he was used to being on his own ever since most of the guild quit the game.

First, it was little things like talking out loud to himself or to the NPCs. Changing Albedo's settings was another thing he wouldn't have done if even one of the other guild members were around, even if it wasn't Tabula Smaragdina. He even welcomed the thought of a minor skirmish with players like the old days even if it was just him and the NPCs. The list went on and on until Ainz realized that he was _lonely_.

Ainz played the game because he made friends and he kept playing because of his friends. In fact everything he was planning on had the goal of finding his friends if they were indeed here.

Instead, he messed up his first contact in a while because he got used to being alone. It didn't help at all that the NPCs continually expressed their willingness to do anything for him, leaving him with little problems on that front of dealing with them.

At least Walkiria didn't seem to take it personally like he did, but the incident confirmed that she was serious about leaving whenever she felt like it. However, with her ability she could help locate his friends faster- so he couldn't allow her to leave just yet.

"We're here," Ainz said before stepping ahead to open the doors.

However, before he could even touch the massive doors they opened of their own accord to reveal Albedo.

"Greetings Ainz-sama," She bowed, "Your visit is most most unexpected."

"Ah, so that's why Nigredo was active," Ainz said out loud, "I should have know you would visit her."

"A-as expected of you Ainz-sama! Nothing can be hidden." Albedo said, her lower lip trembling.

Ainz made a sound, though he was wondering why Albedo had a look like that. Anyway.

"We're here to see the prisoners," He said to her, "I think they should be...ready for questioning now."

"Walkiria will assist in that process," Ainz turned to the other player as he stepped inside, "Hmm? Is something wrong Albedo? Speak your mind."

"Forgive me for questioning you Ainz-sama," Albedo spoke while ignoring her rival, "but Neuronist is perfectly capable of that task. There is no need to trouble yourself with this matter."

 _Did she talk him into doing this?!_

"But will it be the right questions?" Walkiria interrupted Ainz's reply, "You've never been to the surface until recently so you don't know what to look for."

"Neuronist was made by a Supreme Being," Albedo shot Walkiria a death glare, "She is up to the task."

"We will see what Neuronist has uncovered thus far," Ainz cut off the impending argument, "Then Walkiria can ask her questions."

"By your will Ainz-sama."

 **\- 0 -**

"Ainz-sama, I am truly blessed this day to behold your glorious form!" Neuronist said with a curtsy as they entered the bowels of the prison a few minutes later.

The figure in question was Nazarick's interrogation specialist, Neuronist Painkill. While its movement would have been cute on another female, such as Shalltear did the past two days ago, when done by Neuronist it was simply bizarre.

The creature had the appearance of bloated corpse, greyish in color, with an octopus head. It was clad in a tight black outfit that would have left little to the imagination of any man, however, considering her appearance ten out of ten would not let their thoughts wander in that dark abyss.

Ainz shuddered in his mind, since his vestiges of his "sensibilities" remained in his undead body.

"I trust that the prisoners are ready?" Albedo asked, as she noticed that Neuronist was about to get fruity with her master. She was sensitive to those things.

"Indeed, Overseer," She replied, "At first I was confused as why they kept repeating the glorious collective name of the Supreme Beings when asked to recall the previous events and tortured them to an inch of their lives for their transgression, but then I received the orders from our master."

Neuronist tilted her head to the side when she finally noticed Walkiria.

"Is she the guest you brought, Supreme One?"

"Yes, she is," Ainz replied, "Have you finished questioning them Neuronist? Or have we interrupted your work? You can take as long as you want to get results."

"Fuhu! I am quite finished Ainz-sama!" Neuronist declared happily, "Would you like to hear a wonderful tune?"

The creature bowed like a maestro and several panels opened, allowing the screams and wails of agony of the members of the Sunlight Scripture to flow into the room like water.

"They learned to sing quite early," Neuronist said, quite proud of her work, "And have told me such interesting things during our...coaching sessions."

"She sure knows how make torture sound sweet," Walkiria sent Ainz a mental message.

Not that she felt anything for the members of the Scripture. Her High Vampire form simply did not permit her to see humans as anything as food. Besides, she knew exactly what monsters really looked like in and out of a game.

"My friend, was basically being worked to death by his employers," Ainz answered back, "They had to hide their complaints somehow while at work."

"Excellent work Neuronist," Ainz said with his actual voice.

"I am merely performing my purpose, Ainz-sama," She bowed humbly.

"Then what did you learn about this world?" Ainz inquired.

Neuronist beamed like a favorite pupil who knew the answer to the question asked by the teacher. She reported that the humans were from the Slane Theocracy who worshipped six gods, which she chuckled at their mention, and other general facts about their country. Suppressing a squeal, Neuronist also said that eventually they had called out to Ainz as their god in a bid to make the torture stop. It didn't work.

Next she stated what information they knew about the Kingdom. Apparently, they employed monster-slayers called "adventurers" and the land was divided amongst those of noble blood, which Neuronist scoffed at once more during her report.

Lastly, she repeated several things Ainz had learned or gleaned from his earlier conversation with the village chief of Carne.

Overall the information was sparse and some of it only served to reinforce Ainz's current knowledge of the world. To someone like Ainz, and he presumed Walkiria as well, who lived on the information they obtained the report was akin to a drop of water in the mouth of a man lost in the desert.

He turned to look at his tentative partner and saw she was ready to hurl at the brief report, her head turned to the side. It appears she was affected by the report as well. However...

"Excellent work Neuronist!" Albedo crowed, "And to get these filthy insects to open their eyes to a true god! Commendable work!"

"Umm..." Ainz raised a bony finger to correct them but could find no proper words.

 _Damn! I told them not to think like that! Maybe if I give them titles of corporate officers they'll change their line of thinking. Yeah, that could work. They're all intelligent (now) after all_.*

"That's all?!" Walkiria grated, interrupting Albedo and Neuronist's talk, "That isn't worth anything at all! I could grab someone off the street and they'd tell me the same things!"

"I don't see what other knowledge these insects would have that our master wouldn't already know or find useful." Albedo huffed.

"Indeed," Neuronist nodded in agreement.

"Precisely! You don't know anything that's important outside this little base of yours!" Walkiria shot back, "Have you ever asked what makes those six kingdoms different or asked general behavioral patterns amongst the populace?"

"Unimportant information for our master," Albedo crossed her arms, "They should be kneeling before him, rather than he bothering himself with their petty concerns."

"And that shows me what information you gave him- nothing." Walkiria sneered.

A dark aura could be seen emanating between the two, though Neuronist was giving Walkiria an angry look as well.

Ainz's gaze darted around the room. Suddenly, the exit seemed so far away. He also realized he was the only male (technically) in the room.

This could get ugly.

"I'm going in there to ask some real questions." Walkiria announced, "Open the cell to the leader. The guy with spiky hair."

Neuronist waited for a signal from Ainz before opening the door. No outsider was going to order her around.

"Out!" Walkiria barked to the Torturers gathered around Nigun.

They hesitated for a moment before Neuronist gave a mental command and they shuffled out. Much like how Ainz had a link with any of his undead creations, so too did Neuronist have a connection with her helpers.

"Its been a while commander," Walkiria smiled, showing her sharpened canines, "I trust they've been treating you well?"

 **\- 0 -**

Ainz sat in room where he could observe the interrogations comfortably, not that he needed any comfort to begin with. He didn't know how much time passed but Walkiria was basically making the man from the Theocracy spill everything he knew. The things ranged from mundane questions such as why almost everyone seemed to have blond hair, the common law of the land, the coat of arms of the different nations and "Adventurers" which is what piqued Ainz's interest the most. Now they won't walk into a city sounding completely ignorant or like newborns.

"Damn, I must be getting rusty," Ainz thought sourly.

In the past he was excellent at gathering information from Yggdrasil, but ever since its decline and the members leaving the guild, things slowed down considerably. Eventually, he only went out to farm for materials for Nazarick's upkeep.

"Listen to this drivel," Albedo growled, "These insects aren't worth considering, especially since they're no match for you Ainz-sama."

Ainz turned his head to reply but stopped when Albedo's eyes suddenly narrowed. He knew that look. She had an idea.

"Say the word Ainz-sama," Albedo purred seductively, moving towards him like a cat, "And we can have her imprisoned here..."

"Actually, this information is quite good," Ainz voiced his thoughts about how they were going to enter a city to begin gathering additional information about this world.

"Oh..." Albedo drooped.

Ainz turned around as he heard a "glop" sound. It was Neuronist.

"I-I did not ask these questions, to think that I have failed you in your first task for me Ainz-sama..." The strange creature sobbed.

"Ah, I'm sure you would have done so in time, Neuronist," Ainz stated diplomatically, "We were the ones who interrupted your work."

"But Ainz-sama-"

"Hmmm? A minute please," Ainz turned his attention back into the room.

Now Walkiria was asking about common Japanese names, about a Centaur, a Deep Naga...and a Werewolf.

"What is she- !" Realization flooded through Ainz that Walkiria was checking for people. Probably ones she knew in the game. Suddenly he could sympathize with her. Even as a solo-player, she couldn't isolate herself completely from people. Those that she mentioned were probably the ones she trusted the most in the game but never joined up with. Ainz started to see her in a new light.**

Finally, the questions ended and Walkiria stepped out.

"Did you get all that?" She asked, tucking a strand of her lavender hair behind an elfin ear.

"The only thing my lord got was an earful of filth," Albedo stood up.

"Damn, why does this keep happening?" Ainz whined in his head. He knew they were protective of him and Nazarick, but this was getting ridiculous!

"Really? Because that guy over there told me he wanted to know as much as he could about this world." Walkiria answered coolly, in direct contrast to Albedo's fiery temperament, "Sounds like you're not very good at following orders."

"Are you questioning my competence and loyalty?!" Albedo growled threateningly.

"Of course I am," Walkiria replied evenly, "How else should I take it? You're not giving Ainz what he asked for."

"And what little information you gave wasn't worth anyone's time, let alone his," Walkiria's voice now matched Albedo's in hostility, "When he tells you to bring him something, you bring it. Pure and unadulterated. An NPC does not have the right to decide what a player needs. If you're so eager to prove your loyalty, bring Ainz what he wants. Anything less _is_ rebellious."

"Why you sl-!"

"Enough!" Ainz yelled. His passive kicked in dampening his anger.

This was really getting out of hand. His worst fears of leaving Walkiria alone in Nazarick was shown to be validated here. The NPCs were simply too hostile to outsiders or worshipful of him to act in any other way. He also didn't have it in his heart to criticize them as they never had the opportunity to venture outside of Nazarick or were even alive until recently. They were also the creations of his friends.

" _My_ goal was achieved today no matter which method was used to gather information." Ainz declared, "This isn't worth arguing about."

"We apologize for our behavior Ainz-sama." Albedo and Neuronist bowed respectfully.

In contrast, Walkiria's lips curled upwards expressing her annoyance.

"Albedo, have that information written down, I use it as a reference when making notes about this world," Ainz instructed, "It will be useful if- when I find my friends and brief them on the situation."

Albedo bowed obediently but Walkiria wasn't done yet.

"Don't kill the prisoners," She said to no one in particular, "They're more useful alive than dead."

"That too." Ainz confirmed with a sigh.

Soon the trio left the prison to prepare for the journey into the Kingdom, with Ainz still sour about the whole event.

* * *

~ Somewhere in the Kingdom ~

"The vest too tight kid?" Vardun asked in a playful voice, "It was the only spare we had closet to your size."

"Its fine, thanks." Kazuki said gratefully, "Sorry to bother you."

"Yeah, well you never know what you can catch if you don't wear any upper garments. A cold, dirt, a wandering female gaze..." Vardun said giving Alyssa a teasing look.

To her credit, the youngest member of the Black Scripture didn't deign to respond or even turn her head, though her cheeks had a dusting of red to them.

Vardun was only acting friendly because he was assigned to guard the prisoner in case he tried something. It was their third day together on the road and he proved their equal at least in traversing the terrain. It was for this reason that Kairon had assigned Vardun to the job. If Kazuki proved to be a threat he would be in a position to take him down. However...

"Uh, what do you mean by that last part Vardun-san? We're the only people in the forest." Kazuki replied.

Vardun knew that look. It was look of pure confusion.

"Damn, this kid's head is as dense as Adamantite." The veteran warrior thought.

If ever he lived to retirement and he saw Kazuki again, Vardun resolved to get him really drunk to see what made him tick.

Suddenly Kazuki's head snapped forward, followed closely by the others.

Something was coming.

"Defensive formation," Kairon ordered quietly. It was superfluous though. The members of the Scripture were long accustomed to fighting to need orders.

A moment passed and then another before something landed in front of the group.

As the dust cleared, it raised its avian head and gave a deafening roar, scattering what remained of the dust cloud. It leonine paws tightened around the earth and assumed a rocky appearance, while its claws, sharp as obsidian extended.

"Che, just a Rock Griff." Constantine snorted.

Though a huge threat to most humans, a creature such as this was no match for most members of the Scripture, let alone the entire group. Kairon was more concerned that someone would investigate the area due its appearance. They would have to dispose of it quietly, meaning no magic that might draw attention.

"Make it quick," He ordered.

"The old fashioned way eh?" Vardun grunted. He'd been itching for a fight ever since the start of the journey.

Suddenly the creature turned its attention to Kaire and its paws glowed.

"Kaire-sama!" Alyssa leaped in front of the relic wielder and put up a forward barrier.

The spell, however, could not counter an attack from below. Instantly, Alyssa felt the ground underneath her liquify and she stared in horror as the "mud" rose up to cover her and Kaire.

There was black blur and suddenly the two found themselves briefly staring at the sky. She looked to see that Kazuki had pushed them out of the way in time but had gotten caught in the quagmire. Alyssa watched in horror as Kazuki struggled until the mud covered him completely. Then it hardened to the point where spikes jutted out of the still form.

It was the Rock Griff's ability, [Live Burial], where it would cover its prey and then crush it into meaty pulp. Then the Rock Griff would pick apart the rocky shell and eat the small bits of meat with its beak or feed it to its young.

"It must be an adult for it to have this ability." Kairon reasoned.

"Well, at least it took care of a loose end." Constantine said, unconcerned that the creature had turned its attention to them.

Before Kairon could move in, there was an audible crack. Everyone turned in surprise to see that the shell was straining under something.

[*!$^!( &!$( ]

Before anyone could react Kazuki burst out of the earthen prison and launched an upper cut to the Rock Griff. Its head was torn clean off while its body somersaulted in the air to land several feet away. Kazuki landed on his feet lightly facing away from them. There was a faint glow about him totally different from someone who had just used magic or a Martial Art.

Everyone looked in surprise, but Kaire and Kairon more so. They had detected something in this person alright. And here was the proof. That glow could only come from a very specific lineage. He was like most of them.

Godkin.

Slowly, Alyssa approached him to see if he was alright. Once more, parts of his clothing were torn though he showed no signs of injury. The young blonde flinched when she saw his eyes. They had changed considerably since a few minutes ago. Where he previously had a confused and friendly look about him, now his eyes were...aware. These were eyes that had experienced the dark side of the world that was painfully hidden from the common man.

"Alyssa," He turned to look at her, his expression unreadable, "I remember...everything."

* * *

Author's note:

*Too late Ainz. At this point in time Demiurge and Albedo would have told the entirety of Nazarick about Ainz's "plan" to conquer the world.

**No.

Chapter 5 is done. Finally, we can move on to the Dark Hero and Bloody Valkyrie arcs. If you think Ainz here is a bit too subdued compared to when Entoma was almost killed or when Hekerran did what he did, I assumed it was a bit too early into the story for him to get angry enough. Plus, while he is most sensitive to things happening to Nazarick those two events above could be viewed as assaults or insults to what he holds most dear. Here, I simply can't see any of that here so while there is some disapproval, there'll be no going off the rails yet.

Also, Walkiria is a player and quite different from the New World inhabitants so Ainz is now constantly reminded that he's different from the NPCs.

And Kazuki remembers his past in the end! Truthfully, I was undecided on whether to include it or not as the fight scene is "meh" at best but I went ahead just to advance the plot. His later fight scenes are already thought of and are much more elaborate.

I will also be adopting the -0- symbol which I've been using in my other stories to separate segments that are too short to be separated by a scene.

Until next time.


	6. Chapter 6

The Warrior and the Witch

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Overlord or Sword Art Online

* * *

 _I used to be an adventurer like Momon. Haha! Yes I knew him. Met him in fact. I was just a Copper-plate back then, shook my hand and talked to me at the Re-Estize Palace during the Demonic Disturbance of Jaldaboah and his foul mistress._

 _What? You wish to hear of the hero Momon and his partner? Well then, sit down child. In those days the lands were not the way you know them. Adventurers roamed freely, hunting down monsters that threatened our villages and borders. The Slane Theocracy and the Empire were at their full power._

 _It was a rather different time. It was the age before Ainz Ooal Gown..._

* * *

~ E-Rantel, Kingdom of Re-Estize ~

Ainz let his armored head tap the door tiredly as he closed it. Well, it more of mental fatigue than anything else.

First day on the job and there was already trouble. It would have been a career scandal if he was back working for his company or any company for that matter.

Earlier on as they had entered the inn for adventurers some of the patrons attempted to pick a fight with him. Despite being confident he was leading the conversation where he wanted it, the scarred iron-plate adventurer had crassly suggested that Walkiria "spend some time with them". This resulted in her beating the man and his friends to bloody pulps in seconds. Wanting to avoid negative attention (like the city watch) Ainz had somehow managed to stop the player from killing them outright and hurriedly pressed a basic red potion to a nearby blonde haired boy with instructions to use it. After this he had quickly whisked her away to the room to avoid any more altercations.

"Che, not sleeping in that." Ainz turned to the source of his migraine.

Walkiria, or rather Kairi, whom he had offered as an alternative name to her original one, had lifted the mattress with the tip of her boot.

With his enhanced vision, Ainz could see that small creatures were moving about underneath it. Keeping her expression of disgust, Walkiria commandeered the only chair in the room and sat on it, crossing a leg whilst gazing outside at the bustling populace.

Shaking his helmeted head, Ainz took the bed across the one she rejected and sat in it, unconcerned that its underside was probably of the same state as the other bed. As he was an undead, completely devoid of any flesh whatsoever, small invertebrates would not trouble him in the least.

After a bit of arguing, away from the Guardians and other NPCs, he had convinced her to act like a magic caster while he assumed a warrior persona: Momon, the adventurer.

Ainz did not expect her to have any items relating to magic but he was surprised that she did have some, and entire set in fact. She explained that she probably took it off some dead player during the last few days of the game. Apparently it was very hectic for her.

Well not as hectic for those poor players.

Ainz, for his part, wore a set of full plate of jet black armor with gold trims. A red cape of exquisite quality covered half of his armored form and a pair of gigantic swords, now usable due to the spell he cast, hung across his back. He could easily make a full physical set out of materials at a low cost but he wanted to see how it would hold up and not spend resources unnecessarily. In fact, one of the minor reasons for him adventuring was to see if he could obtain materials to replenish his personal stock.

Walkiria also looked the part, though the equipment could be considered as functional and unassuming if seen in the game. Her outfit was simple in its design. She wore a dark long-sleeved tunic normally associated with magic casters with purple trims and a mini-skirt of the same color. Black leggings covered the entirety of her legs along with ankle boots.

Her accessories included a waist cinch and finger gloves made of a dark leathery material. Finally along with a cape and witch's hat to cover her (now) chocolate brown hair, she had with her a staff of with a blade at the top with a jewel embedded in the center. She had also kept a wand at her waist for another type of spell since her jobs could cast only a few spells.

Overall, Walkiria's apparel fit her svelte form like a glove but not to the point of leaving little to the imagination or being overly tight. In fact, it covered the entirety of her person leaving only her head and her fingertips exposed.

Now that Ainz thought about it, as rookie adventurers their gear completely looked at odds with their rank. No wonder people stared at them. The men in particular to Walkiria.

"My wings are hidden, what's you're excuse for staring this time Ainz?" Walkiria asked dryly as she continued to stare outside.

"Lots in fact," Ainz answered nonchalantly, "Like how the room is small, that I can't really control what my eyes see, or that _I can't blink._ "

Was this her way of teasing him or something? Well, she was going to have to try harder than that to fluster him.

"Anyway, I thought I told you not to call me that," Ainz whispered, "Call me Momon, _Kairi_."

Walkiria eyes slowly slid over to his direction to regard him cooly.

When he had first suggested the name she had a strange reaction before begrudgingly accepting, just like now.*

"Well, aren't you paranoid." She said turning to face him, "There's nobody else here considering the room you chose was a private one."

"You never know who might be listening."

"Paranoid." She repeated, "Isn't that why you brought me along? To see if there are other players nearby? I kept an eye out as we entered the city you know, just like the deal."

"There's nothing wrong with being careful," Ainz asserted, "Anyway, you remember the plan?"

"Yeah, I heard you the first time."

"Good, there's another thing I want to talk to you about," Ainz said, "Can I ask you to try to get along with the NPCs in Nazarick? It would make a lot of things smoother."

Before they departed, there were numerous verbal clashes between the NPCs of Nazarick and Walkiria, and thus Ainz couldn't wait to get her out of his beloved guild base.

"This again? Why am I not surprised?" Walkiria sighed tiredly, "Well, you know what my answer is: No. I say something different to what they think, and they needle me? Come on. Besides, you saw what happened there in that prison. They were already going behind your back, deciding on what you should and should not need to know."

"They would never betray me," Ainz's red orbs for his eyes shrunk angrily, "They are loyal, and like the children of my friends."

"Well I'm not one of your pals, neither am I some data collection programmed to kiss ass," Walkiria straightened, "I've _never_ done anything like that before and I'm never going to. I don't mind playing second fiddle, its your show but at the same time I'm a _person_ , get that through your head."

"What? Its too much to ask you to keep the peace?" Ainz retorted.

"I don't bother people as a policy," Walkiria said, "And just in case you didn't notice, I don't respond well to people picking fights with me."

"You mean like that little show downstairs?" Ainz thought sarcastically. Suddenly the memory of the incident gave him a flash of inspiration.

"If you have something to say about the NPC's suggestions could you say so through [Message] or when we're alone?" Ainz suggested.

He wasn't so petty as to be blind that the NPCs wouldn't know how human society would operate. In fact, a good boss would recognize that his employees lacked certain skills and move to correct or improve them otherwise they would be liabilities in the long run. Better training meant better production after all.

"Sure, whatever. As long as they don't get on my case."

Ainz smiled behind his helmet. This feeling...Solving disputes, exploring the unknown, and traveling in a party. It was just like the good old days. Plus there was the added bonus of being able to speak normally for a change despite the fact that Walkiria was far from a friend. Being the head of a corporation and acting like the part was more taxing than expected.

"Good. Lets explore the city for today, we can officially accept an adventuring job tomorrow."

He couldn't wait to reunite with his _real_ friends.

* * *

~ Bareare Alchemy Shop, Nfirea Bareare ~

"Hmm, its red..." Lizzie Bareare mumbled as she ran some tests on the mysterious potion.

"Why? What wrong if its red grandma?" Nfirea asked.

Earlier that day, as Nfirea was going to the adventurer's inn to deliver a blue potion as part of payment for earlier services when a fight broke out among the Adventurers there. At first it looked bad since it was between a new Copper-plate team and an Iron-plate, that and he was practically beside them when it happened. Things changed though when he got a good look of the Copper-plate. The man was huge, encased in an impressive jet black full plate armor. Even if he was at the bottom he was sure to have at least some strength.

What Nfirea did not expect, however, was that the man's partner, a beautiful magic caster, would be the one to beat into submission the men who made some suggestive remarks to her.

Within seconds, the Adventurer in plate armor pressed a red potion into his hands, hurriedly asked him to apply it to the downed Iron-plates and dragged away his partner upstairs.

Having never before seen a red potion, Nfirea used one of his blue potions instead and brought it back to his family's workshop.

"Hehe, Nfirea my boy," His grandmother chuckled, "There hasn't been a red potion seen since the time of the gods..."

* * *

~ Adventurer's guild ~

"This is demeaning..." Ainz sighed internally.

He was looking at the request board of the Adventurer's Guild. There were currently numerous requests coming in from everything ranging from monster-slaying, to escorting to collecting ingredients the locals of various professions would use in their businesses. However, the problem lay with the missions assigned to the Copper-plate Adventurers.

Ainz had kept for himself a pair of items that would translate the local language after questioning the Sunlight Scripture but he couldn't put them on due to his helmet. While he could remove it and wear the glasses, he would have to cast an illusion spell to hide his skeletal visage. Such spell would be disrupted even if anything touched his face because it was a low-grade spell. Illusion spells were used only by a very specific few jobs in Ygdrassil such as Shinobi or Druids and due to the sheer number of spells that had more attractive results or were more efficient they were overlooked except for those with a very specific build. Fortunately, Walkiria had her own items and was quietly translating what she saw on the posters.

Ainz had occasionally ventured outside of Nazarick to hunt for materials for its upkeep and was no stranger to farming but this was...

 _"My cow has disappeared from my farm, please bring it back! It has a bell on its neck."_

 _Difficulty level: Copper_

They were, to put it in real world terms, missions given to Level 1 players.

"What about this one?" Ainz pointed to another poster with a full two paragraphs.

"Its Mithril level," Walkiria said, adjusting her translation glasses, "There's no way they'll let a couple of nobodies undertake a rescue mission."

"Hmmm, I think we can use that to our advantage," Ainz mumbled as he ripped it off the board and walked over to the counter.

"I want to take this job." He said placing the poster on the table.

"I am very sorry, your rank is not high enough for this." The receptionist replied in a professional manner.

"I know that its Mithril level, that is why I chose it," Ainz replied confidently, "We are looking for a job that is suitable for our level. My partner is a magic caster of the Third Tier while I am Warrior of equal strength."

Hushed whispers and gasps rang out in the room. Many were shocked that someone so young could be a master of magic at such a young age. If it was true then the man might just be telling the truth. It was common practice to evaluate someone not known to the adventuring community, at least by estimation, when they were first seen and these two were definitely not here before.

Upon their entering and seeing the copper-plate on their necks, many assumed the large man in jet black armor was some rich kid who wanted to try his hand at Adventuring. It wasn't unheard of before.

"I am sorry but I cannot do so in good conscience," The receptionist responded gently once again, "If I do so many innocents may die."

She was still smiling but her responses made androids seem human in comparison.

"I understand, forgive my forcefulness," Ainz inclined his head apologetically, "Then please give us the hardest mission for a Copper-plate."

"Understood, please give me a moment."

"I hope we don't have to pick up mushrooms or something." Walkiria mumbled.

"If we play it right, we can use this method to leapfrog to the upper ranks quickly," Ainz responded, "Its better than choosing ones where we don't know how much credit we'll get."

"Power-leveling?" Walkiria smirked.

"More or less."

"Sorry for the wait," The receptionist returned after a minute, accompanied by a group of four, "These gentlemen have a request in mind."

 **\- 0 -**

The group of four brought Ainz and Walkiria up to the second floor where they began introductions once seated.

"I am Peter," a young man who looked to be in his early twenties began, "The team's Vanguard."

"This is Dyne, our Druid and healer," Peter pointed to large but friendly looking man with a mace.

"This is our Ranger, Lukeluther," It was the man who couldn't peel his eyes off Walkiria ever since seeing her at the counter.

"This could be bad," Ainz thought, "Did he notice something about Walkiria?"

"Ah! That must be it!" Ainz thought with a sudden revelation as he swept his partner's appearance from top to bottom. Thankfully, his eye movement was concealed by his helmet.

Walkiria's eyes. They still had that sharp, almost inhuman look about them. Whatever skill or spell she used concealed it well enough, but a closer inspection revealed that the irises wasn't the normal shape that humans possessed.

"And this is our Magic Caster, Ninya the Genius!" Peter finished as he gestured towards an embarrassed looking young man.

"Peter...can you not call me with that nickname?" Ninya smiled nervously.

Though he was smiling, Ainz could detect that it was fake. However, it was not his business to think beyond that. Probably just cautious around strangers which was perfectly normal.

"But its true, isn't it?" Peter said, obviously having had this line of conversation before, "You see Ninya here has a talent that allows him to learn magic spells faster than most."

"Oh? I see. Quite the useful ability there." Ainz responded. Being a fellow magic caster, he could see the benefit of such an ability.

He had heard about Talents from the captured Scripture members. Much like Martial Arts, they were abilities that the natives of this world possessed. Talents were akin to racial abilities in that they gave the owner useful advantages over others. However, there was difficulty in taking full advantage of them. The first was to discover if one had a Talent to begin with, the second was to discover what it was, and finally to train the owner in that specific field.

Though it sounded simple, it was difficult to fully nurture a talent because of the first two factors. Lastly, even if somehow a Talent was discovered there was the issue of training the owner. If, for example, one's talent was fighting he or she would have to be trained and even if trained it was possible they could be killed along the line by a more skilled or experienced opponent. Because of this, many of the populace were either unaware of their Talent or had no means to achieve their full potential.

Due to their friendly banter of the two and because of the helmet completely enclosing his head they didn't realize that Ainz's eyes took on a deadly light. He wanted to procure this ability for Nazarick, perhaps Demiurge would know of a way of extracting it. However, it would raise too much suspicions if a person suddenly vanished after meeting with a new Adventurer.

His eyes stole a glance at Walkiria who wore a bored expression on her face. Doesn't she realize the value of this person?

Still, finding his friends was top priority and Nazarick's benefit was a close but obvious second. Her ability to detect Players was more valuable at the moment.

"Thank you for saying so," Ninya said with his false smile to Ainz after he finally got Peter to stop, "I'm lucky not only to have this Talent but to be able to use it in the field where it flourishes."

"Well, then its our turn," Ainz said after nodding respectfully, "I am Momon, and this is my partner, Kairi. I heard you had request for us?"

"Ah that, you see..." Peter began.

The young man explained that they were hired by someone who was giving an Iron-plate level request and that he asked them to recruit additional Adventurers if possible due to the nature of the endeavor. The client also instructed to keep the choice between two Adventurers if possible and of the Copper-plate rank.

The last part sent the two players on high alert as it was simply too specific to refer to anyone else but them.

"Our client should be around in a few minutes, Momon-san," Peter finished, "He will tell you of the specifics. Its actually a great boon for us since he's well known. In the meantime do you have questions? I will answer them if I can."

"Hmm...I can think of none at the moment," Ainz responded, "However, I should be able to ask him about things before accepting right?"

"Of course."

{ _Sounds like a trap._ } Walkiria spoke to him through [Message].

{ _Yeah, it was way too specific in describing us.} Ainz agreed, {But let's see what its about. It could just be a coincidence._ }

"I have a question!" Lukeluther's hand shot up enthusiastically.

"Yes? I'll answer what I can." Ainz said.

"What is your relationship with miss Kairi?"

Silence descended on the room. Everyone, except maybe Lukeluther, felt a drop in the temperature.

A heavy sigh escaped Peter. He was praying so hard that this wouldn't happen. But it did. Much earlier than he anticipated though.

"She is my comrade." Momon answered, apparently not seeing where this was going.

"It is destiny! Our destiny! Please marry me!" Lukeluther declared, kneeling in front of Kairi.

That was too direct.

Though it did not seem possible, the air temperature dropped even further.

However, to everyone's surprise Kairi smiled warmly at Lukeluther and beckoned him closer. Ainz, on the other hand, knew something was wrong given what he had seen in Walkiria's personality.

And he was right.

As Lukeluther approached, Walkiria grabbed the back of his head and brutally slammed it on the table. The Ranger stumbled back, blood gushing from a broken nose and collapsed on the floor.

"Could you excuse us for a moment?" Ainz said, pulling Walkiria away.

"What are you doing?!" He whispered furiously when they were far enough, "Can you try not to get us arrested on the first day?"

"Making a point to a lecher, this place is full of them!" Walkiria answered, "He might keep asking during the trip and end up getting our client killed. That would be a bad start."

"That was a bit extreme!" Ainz continued, "You could have just declined and seen where that went!"

The two could hear mumbling amongst the Swords of Darkness thanks to their inhuman senses.

"That's the second time this month..."

"I thought he learned his lesson the last time."

"He did. This time he asked the girl whether she was taken or not before he got hit..."

Despite it apparently being not a major situation, Ainz cleared his throat.

"I apologize for my companion's behavior." He said, shooting a glance at Walkiria.

"Its alright Momon-san," Peter said, "My friend can be a bit tactless as well."

"Oh good! Every one is here!" came a voice.

The six Adventurers turned to see a young man with heavy bangs covering his eyes.

"Are these the additional Adventurers Mr. Peter?" He said, "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Nfirea Bareare. Its a pleasure to meet you- why is he on the floor?"

* * *

~ Forest, Ninya ~

Ninya fought back the rising contents of her stomach as she moved to cut off a toe from a dead Ogre that had tried to ambush the party. It was not that she was unused to dealing such a gruesome task as she was an Adventurer for quite some time now, but rather because of the near unbearable stench the feet gave off. On average Ogres smelled like a public toilet, but their feet was on a different level. What did they step on?

"Hmmm...there's nothing on this Ogre either."

She cast a sideways glance at the two adventurers in black who were looking over the corpse of an Ogre.

Ninya was already in the building when they, The Swords of Darkness, overheard Momon try to take a Mithril level quest when he was just a Copper-plate. The only reason people paid attention to him was because of his armor. When he boasted he could take on Mithril Level missions people ignored him as boasting wasn't uncommon in the profession. However, he caused quite a stir when he mentioned that his partner was a Third-Tier Magic Caster and he was on par in terms of swordsmanship. Speaking of his partner...

Was she really a magic caster?

During the fight Momon's strikes were powerful enough to cleave an Ogre in half. On the other had, Kairi's** magic attack had vaporized the upper halves of two Ogres who had tried to run, one of them was the owner of the toe Ninya was trying to procure at this moment. The magical discharge was so great that everyone stopped to look, not that it mattered as only Goblins were left behind at this point and easy targets, even for Copper-plate Adventurers. Still, the amount of MP she must have used for that attack...and she didn't even look winded.

Ninya was wary of people for a good reason, and these two suddenly rocketed up to the top of her list.

No matter how powerful they were, magic casters always regulated the use of their MP as running out of energy in the middle of a fight could be fatal for them. Yet Kairi unleashed her power with abandon, almost like how a rookie caster would. Momon on the other hand, while seemingly just as powerful as Kairi, spoke in too much of a dignified tone. Sure he was polite but it sounded almost forced, like it was an act.

Though she had no proof, Ninya suspected that Momon was a noble. Whether traveling in disguise or simply playing as an Adventurer, it didn't matter what the reason was.

You couldn't trust them.

And his behavior gave tell tale signs of this. That and there was no way some random person, let alone a Copper-plate could have a set of full plate armor and two giant weapons.

"Pardon me, Ninya-san," Momon began as they approached her.

"Yes? Momon-san?" She smiled her practiced smile. _You can't trust nobles. The whole lot of them._

"I was wondering if the creatures we slay drop certain items such as crystals?"

Eh? That was a weird question.

"I've never heard of them dropping crystals...but they are a source of ingredients depending on the monster type, body parts such as this," Ninya held the a stinking toe she liberated, "Are used by the Guild to verify our kills and reward us appropriately."

"Also, they sometimes drop items used by former Adventurers who were simply...unlucky." She added in a more dark tone.

"I see. A shame."

Another weird response. Still. They checked out most of her suspicions of being nobles, mainly being ignorant of the whole process of gathering marks by having their horrendously inaccurate view of what would be dropped.

 _I'll be watching them. Even if we were hired by Nfirea Bareare. Big sis..._

* * *

Author's note:

*Its actually pretty close to her real name.

** The magic is a spell bound to the weapon.

So...not much happening here I guess. I'll be taking a brief hiatus of things as I'll be very busy in the next couple of months.

On to better news, I was initially planning to skip the Lizard-man arc as it was just a power-trip for Nazarick and not really much happens in the grand scheme of things but it just so happened that I had an idea on how to bridge the gap between the Bloody Valkyrie and the Men of the Kingdom arcs. I even have a couple of scenes already written.

I've been getting a lot of likes for this story, followed by the Persona-Grimgar one, so thanks for those! I definitely need to pump out chapters for that and the Plavsky Effect as a way of saying thanks. That and its fun to write.

To answer some questions, at Level 140 its quite obvious who is stronger BUT we also have to remember that numbers don't mean everything. For example, Gargantua in the Overlord universe is stated to be unbeatable even by Touch-Me...at least alone. So to put things into perspective, at Level 140 its pretty much the equivalent of being a boss fight. There are some games I've played where in single player people can reach up to Lvl 1500! One online Korean game I've played a few months ago have the top players dishing out 1 million damage potential but the level cap is only 70. So, for distinction's sake I thought that Level 140 is fair. I mean seriously, if all of Nazarick teamed up against her, the outcome is clear but a 1v1 is going to be a beatdown due to cold, hard numbers.

And as amusing as it would be to see Kirito get beaten up by Ainz, sorry, but there's simply no reason for him to appear in the final day of the game. Also as a GM he would be practically unbeatable if we assume that the "Transition" takes the lore and other stuff into account. That being said I don't hold any real animosity towards his character, rather its how he was written and how it affected the story. Whenever a problem came up, the author would bend reality around Kirito, rather than the other way around as we're used to seeing in most hero-journey stories.

Lastly, I may or may not write an Omake relating to this story and post it independently. I'll see how many minutes a paragraph takes and I'll upload it in both Overlord vanilla and crossover sections.

Until next time.


	7. Chapter 7

Then and Now

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Overlord or Sword Art Online

* * *

 _"It appears the common factor amongst the death of a number players was that they were all beta testers of the highly anticipated VRMMO game ANO Online. An anonymous source within the hospital revealed that the deceased players were all found to have "...had their brains liquefied" in what appears to be a repeat of the SAO incident over a decade ago. As of the moment the police have ruled out external foul play._

 _Despite the fact that AmuSpheres and all succeeding generations of the popular device have numerous built in safety measures the recent events have put into question the safety of its users of the device once again. President Kirigaya Asuna of RECT Inc. had this to say..."_

 _Tokyo News Coverage, 20XX_

* * *

~ On the way to Carne Village ~

"So it is a spell that emits an alarm once triggered?" Momon asked.

"Yes, exactly Momon-san," Ninya tried not to show her annoyance at Momon's repeated questioning.

For the past several minutes Momon had been asking her about some of the spells they used. His questions were actually well suited for one studying magic and any teacher would be delighted that Momon was his pupil but right now he was a Warrior who could cleave an ogre in half in one strike.

Beyond simple curiosity Ninya couldn't see why he kept asking about the more well known spells. Really, the warning spell she was setting up was so well known that even non-magic casters could do it themselves. Then again Momon was a Copper-plate and if he really was a noble's son playing Adventurer like she suspected then it would come as no surprise that he didn't know this.

"Perhaps Kairi-san can explain the rest to you Momon-san," Ninya said slowly with a smile. _Please go away. Please go away. Please go away._

"The closest thing Kairi does to support," Momon began with a cough, "Is [Heal], the rest of her spells involve some kind of bodily harm to people or things she doesn't like."

"I...thought as much." Ninya sighed. It sounded plausible too considering Kairi's behavior in and out of battle.

"Hey! Dinner will be ready in a few minutes!" Lukeluther called as he stirred the stew over a small fire.

"Hmm, I had better go check on Kairi." Momon said as he turned to leave.

"Thanks for the help," Walkiria rolled her eyes as she set one of the party's bags down.

"Sorry, I was asking Ninya some questions regarding their magic system," Ainz replied, "While most of the magic is from Yggdrasil, some appear to be native to this world. I'm hoping to see if I can learn some or failing that know to what extent they can do."

"You could have asked that during dinner time," Walkiria said, still annoyed, "Its not like we need to ea-"

As she suddenly stopped talking Ainz knew why she chose to end the conversation. Their hearing had detected footsteps nearby and soon enough Peter walked over to them.

"Momon-san, Kairi-san there's no need to for you to do this kind of work," Peter said as he approached them, "Here, let me do it."

"We can't let you do that," Momon answered, "We agreed to divide the work proportionately, lifting a few bags is no big deal."

Kairi gave him a look that practically said _"Oh, its we now?"_ which Ainz ignored.

"Ah, I see, the two of you are very hardworking," Peter said, "It must be how you got so strong. We should head over to the campfire, they may not look like it but Dyne and Lukeluther are actually pretty good cooks."

An hour later Ainz was wondering on how he was going to get out of his current predicament. He was currently staring at the contents of a wooden bowl that was currently their "dinner". Since he was undead, not only would the food pass right through him if he tried to eat it but even if did try to sample it he could not do so for he had no taste buds. It was a real shame as Ainz genuinely wanted to try some of this world's food.

Back in his normal life, he would normally settle for takeout or pre-made foods and take a supplement pill to cover all bases. In the earlier days when the guild would take a break from playing he would often stop by a Ramen shop and eat a bit more than usual but that was then. Also, being technically a foreigner to this land Ainz was naturally curious as to how the food tasted aside from the break of monotony from his usual meals.

"What's the matter, Momon-san?" Peter looked up from the food when he noticed Ainz wasn't eating. In fact, both he and Walkiria had not touched their food.

"Uh, you see-" Ainz began, casting Walkiria a side glance.

"He has an item that prevents him from going hungry," Walkiria explained with a straight face, "While it will not necessarily make you feel full, you won't get hungry either in exchange for a bit of energy loss."*

"Nice save!" Ainz cheered happily in his head, "The [Ring of Sustenance]! How could I forget? Wait! Maybe its a rare item in this world? Nah, I already have this armor on anyhow. One more 'expensive' item shouldn't be too much of a wonder at this point."

"Hoh? So his armor and weapons is not the only high quality item he possesses." Dyne concluded.

"Called it." Ninya thought darkly.

"I am sorry that you went through all the trouble of cooking extra for us Dyne-san," Walkiria said, "As team leader _he_ should have told you beforehand."

"Well, with today's excitement I sort of forgot," Ainz added, "I apologize."

"Well, what about you Kairi-san?" Lukeluther asked with a weird look on his face, "Perhaps you can tell these guys how good of a cook I am? Don't be shy! I can even feed you mouth to mouth if you wa-"

Lukeluther was interrupted when Walkiria snapped her wooden spoon with one finger.

"I. Have. The. Same. Item. As. Well." She said through gritted teeth.

"Uh, is that a no?" Lukeluther asked obliviously.

Before anything untoward could happen Peter picked Lukeluther's spoon from his bowl and shoved it in his friend's mouth.

"I think the hunger's making him say things," Peter said disarmingly with a nervous smile as his friend choked.

While it galled him to say it, Lukeluther _was_ his friend since they had gone through several life-threatening events with the party. His one vice just had to act up even though it was obvious that something was going on with Momon and Kairi. The way they gave each other looks during the trip was obvious enough.** If anything it was either Momon wished to keep it a secret to outsiders (otherwise he would have probably thrown Lukeluther over the hill) or he was the most patient man in the world and had complete confidence Kairi would not cheat on him.

Thankfully Peter's act to turn the situation around worked and elicited a laugh from all but the two Copper Plates.

"Are all Adventurers this close to each other?" Nfirea asked after the laughter died down.

"After a while," Peter confirmed, "Teams normally stay together if they can because they find that the members work well together."

"Hmmm, that's right teamwork is very important!" Lukeluther declared, "That's why the three of us are together. Sadly, we won't be taking any female members though. I hear they cause trouble if its a mixed group."

At the mention of this Ninya gave a nervous smile but said nothing.

"If you don't mind me asking," Everyone turned to Momon who had spoken up, "Why do you call yourselves the 'Swords of Darkness'? I noticed neither of you utilize any black swords."

"Ah, that! Its because of this guy!" Lukeluther draped an arm around Ninya.

"H-hey! Stop that! I was a kid, okay? I was stupid." Ninya protested while shoving Lukeluther's arm off.

"Don't be shy Ninya!" Dyne encouraged his teammate.

"That's right! You should follow your dream." Even Peter was in on it.

"Does the sword have any significance?" Momon asked innocently.

"Of course! Its the sword one of the Thirteen Heroes used! Everyone knows it!" Lukeluther answered, slightly confused. It was a popular tale after all.

At the mention of it, Ainz began to mentally curse, now he looked ignorant and couldn't ask them to tell the story without further embarrassing himself.

"Surely you heard about it Kairi-san?" Peter asked.

"No. Not from around here. We're foreigners. Remember?" Kairi answered in her usual concise sentences.

"YES!" Ainz cheered from within his heart.

"Hmm, to make a long story short," Dyne began, "The hero who wielded the sword was a dark knight who, along with the rest of the Thirteen Heroes, helped slay the Demon Kings."

He turned to look at Ninya with his ever present smile.

"His dream is that we collect all four swords for ourselves."

"We may have a problem in that area," Peter spoke up, "One of the swords is reportedly in the hands of one of the Kingdom's Adamantite Party, Blue Rose."

"Ah, the all female Adventurer party." Nfirea said.

"Well, we do have _this_ ," Lukeluther reached back and withdrew a short, black dagger, "This is the symbol of our team and our goals. It doesn't matter whether there's three swords or a hundred, we'll keep looking for them because it can only be done as team."

"That's...strangely deep for you to say." Ninya reluctantly said.

"Hmmm, Lukeluther does say something useful every once in a while." Dyne nodded in agreement.

"Hey! What do you mean every once in a while?" Lukeluther asked in disbelief while everyone laughed.

"Indeed, a party with a unified goal is much more effective than one without such a goal." Momon agreed.

"Were the two of you part of a party before Momon-san, Kairi-san?" Peter asked.

At this question Nfirea became excited. His original goal was to learn from Momon and Kairi how they made the potions. So far neither Adventurer were very talkative but now that was seemingly about to change. Even if they won't divulge the technique, at least he would have a starting point with their place of origin.

"No. Never had a party before, though I did work with and for groups in the past." Kairi said to everyone's disappointment.

"I had a group before," Everyone turned to Momon who spoke wistfully, "but it wasn't a party like this. We went on several adventures together and we were as close as a group could possibly be. One was a nin-Rogue, a pala-Holy Warrior, Chef, Archer..."

Momon seemed to slip deeper into his memories as he mentioned the classes of his former party member.

"There will never be a group like them." Momon finished. He seemed to have slipped into a melancholy as he finished.

"Momon-san...I am sure you will find people like them again." Ninya said before she could stop herself.

Ninya wasn't sure what possessed her to say such a thing when she had been wary of the two from the start but Momon's tone had become so sad that it sounded like he was crying. However, his response surprised everyone completely.

"That will _never_ happen!" He snapped, looking at Ninya.

Though it could not be seen, no one was willing to bet that the Warrior's expression would be anything less than a glare.

After an uncomfortable moment that seemed like a minute the Adventurer stood up slowly.

"I apologize for the outburst," Momon mumbled, "I'll eat alone."

The black clad Warrior found a rock large and flat enough to sit on at the edge of the camp perimeter. However, there was no movement was made to indicate he was eating as his head drooped as low as the armor design allowed.

"I suppose I better get over there." Kairi sighed tiredly.

"Ah-He sounded like he wanted to be left alone Kairi-san." Peter said. Actually to him and everyone around, that was what Momon exactly wanted.

"Oh? Well, he does have quite a tantrum," Kairi smiled thinly, "So when he starts to throw trees and boulders around I recommend that's when you knock him out."

No one moved upon mentioning hearing this. Given what they had seen Momon do earlier, it didn't sound too far fetched.

After a while Kairi gave a dry chuckle before walking over to her partner.

* * *

~ Edge of Camp, Ainz ~

Ainz sighed. Another blunder. Whenever he thought about his friends his mood would drop. The Undead characteristic of nullifying any intense emotions didn't work as well in this case because the memories would stay and hover just below the threshold for the ability to activate. Even when it did surpass the limit his emotions would swell up again just as fast, that was how much he missed his friends. Now his intense emotions caused him to snap out at people who weren't at fault. Once he'd calmed down, he'd have to find some way to mend whatever rapport he had established otherwise the entire mission would be awkward, never mind of what these Adventurers would say to their fellows when they got back.

Soft footsteps approached from behind him, followed by multiple playful taps on his helmet with something. He looked up to see the only person who dare do such a thing in the immediate area. Walkiria sat next to him in the boulder, with her bowl in hand.

"This is just me but I don't think that's the image of a dashing warrior who's going to do great things."

She reached into her inventory and produced a short basic-looking dagger and began to dig a small pit. Before Ainz could wonder what her plan was she overturned the contents of her bowl into the pit.

"Can you not start now? I want some time to myself." Ainz gloomily.

"I fed them some story about how you sometimes throw boulders around when you have your tantrums," Walkiria continued as though he hadn't spoken, "You know, just in case they mention it."

"Thanks a lot." Ainz said sarcastically.

Without a word she took his bowl from his hands and poured the contents into he pit like before.

"Can't eat right?"

She returned the dagger in her item box and removed another item, this time a sword. Ever the collector Ainz, despite his low spirits, immediately identified it was a magic item due to its reddish glow. Walkiria jammed the black, twisted blade into the pit and immediately a fire burst forth, providing them with light.

"Well, I do need a snack or two," Walkiria hummed as she withdrew a container from her item box, "Mmmmm...I doubt anything's going to taste as good as that Maid's blood."

Ainz froze in rage.

"You didn't!" He growled after a few moments.

"What else am I suppose to eat?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Muuuuu!" Ainz stood up. His rage and shock making his body indecisive, plus there was that damned nullifying passive.

"See? There you go again," Walkiria seemed unconcerned, "When your brain comes back from its coffee break, it'll remind you that you introduced me to that talking mushroom in the bar. I brought the maid over to him before we left and told him to make the food taste exactly like that Maid's blood. He really delivered too. But don't take my word for it, I'm just a stranger. You can just ask the guy when we get back."

"Do you enjoy provoking me?!" Ainz all but yelled as he sat down angrily.

"You do that to yourself," Walkiria took a sip of her dinner "Its not my fault you get so worked up about anything to do with your sparkle pals. While you may not believe me, I'm not really that juvenile. So lighten up, you're already beginning to look for them, isn't that the point of you doing this?"

 _That's right. No exploring. No Fun. Not in Aincrad. Not in SAO. Just put one foot in front of the other. Get to the next safe zone..._

"Well we can't all be like you! A one-man army!," Ainz continued heatedly, "I was Pked over and over again when I started out! Just because of my appearance! All I wanted to do was play the game! I never bothered anyone! Because of that I was going to quit the game from frustration until I was saved by my friends! Our guild was all but a family! Didn't you ask about those other guys when we were interrogating that prisoner huh? Even _you_ have people you can rely on!"

Ainz's words were spoken very fast and began to quickly lose their coherence. In response, Walkiria gave a dry chuckle.

"Yeah, sure. Laugh it up! Its that hilarious." Ainz snarled.

"Yeah, actually it is," Walkiria said as she poked the fire with her current weapon, the wand.

"You know, the first guild I was going to join tried to kill me for my gear." Walkiria suddenly said.

Ainz "narrowed" his eyes in his helmet. "What does this have to-"

"My second encounter with a guild was that of the PK variety," She continued as if Ainz hadn't spoken, "I don't know what I did to piss them off but they sent a few guys every now and then...until they realized that they were probably better off targeting helpless players instead since, you know, their guys didn't come back."

"Well that's-"

"And, finally one of the major guilds whose theme was to protect other players," Walkiria said as she violently shoved the weapon's sharpened point into the fire, "obviously couldn't be seen having _me_ , a known PKer, as a member but was very happy to hire me as help a few times. Heh, I even showed up to a couple of public meetings."

-0-

 _"Psst! Hey! What's an Orange doing here?"_

 _"Dunno, maybe Heathcliff or one of the higher-ups hired her? We are going to subjugate Laughing Coffin. They probably think it'll be easier if there's an Orange around in case some of the Coffin members can't be taken alive._

 _"Yeah, you're right. I don't wanna kill anyone even if it is those maniacs. They'll probably step in that case. I don't wanna be blamed for murder if once we get out."_

 _"Too bad though about all those PKs, she's kinda cute."_

 _"Shh! She's coming this way..."_

-0-

"So you see Ainz," She looked at him cooly, "I don't work alone because I think its cool or edgy, or that I have a lone-wolf complex, its because guilds have been nothing but bad news for me."

"Oh and those guys you heard me asking about?" Walkiria took a sip from her [Blood Soup], "They're _Player Killers_ Ainz. Any one of them would do more than just snack on your maids. They'd probably hunt you down and torture you in the most sadistic way possible and that's before they'd kill you."

"But you said you were with them..." Ainz said cautiously. Was she some kind of scout? It wasn't unheard of for guilds to send an unaffiliated person into another guild to obtain information or worse...sabotage.

"I _worked_ with them, I had no plans on being their friend and I am not their friend," She looked at him angrily now, "This Beta was my last job! After this I was done! I wouldn't have to look at any of their faces anymore or hear their voices. I could finally put everything behind me and get on with whatever life passed me by all these years! Losing over a decade of my life was the fucking least of it!"

"In hindsight, I should have known better," Walkiria laughed bitterly, "It sounded too good to be true, and it was. Mr. I'm holier-than-thou developer didn't keep his end of the bargain. _Oh, wait! There was one tiny, little condition I didn't tell you about._ "

Walkiria let out another bitter laugh after she imitated, what Ainz presumed to be, the head developer of Yggdrasil. She then crushed the empty wooden bowl and tossed the remains into the fire.

"So what's the moral of this story?," Walkiria asked, "Get over yourself Ainz. You're not the only one with a sob story."

Several seconds passed in silence as both stared into the fire, lost in their respective pasts.

"I'm not going to give up on hope of finding my friends in this world," Ainz was the first to speak up.

"Why did I even try?" Walkiria sighed tiredly.

"But, I suppose I wasn't the only only one who had it rough," Ainz continued, "So I think I'll try not to be too suspicious of you in the future."

"Progress." Walkiria rolled her eyes, "Joy."

"However, I'm still not asking you to join the guild," Ainz said in lighter tone.

"And get smothered by your concern the second I'm out of sight?," Walkiria chuckled, "If you do that, I'm cashing in my 'termination clause'."

"So...why did you choose to be a heteromorph?" Ainz asked after a while.

"I didn't," Walkiria snorted, "How the hell does that guy expect me to test the system if I don't try everything?"

"By "try" do mean to say you have more than one account?" Ainz asked surprised. Yggdrasil did not allow more than one account per player for various reasons. Did she have special privileges after all since she was a Beta tester?

"No, I had only one account like everyone else," Walkiria responded, "I chose being a High Vampire because the class could hit hard and fast, and had decent stats all around. As to why people see me as the bad guy? Its because I'm doing my job of testing the system for any bugs. People do some really creative stuff when they're bored and that's when something might happen because the system might not be geared to handle it even though its allowed."

Exploring the game for the Beta stage in _ANO_ meant the full usage of the features as well as any imaginable random arbitrary act that a player might do. However, the system took a harsher note of any evil acts. As such, it was easier to accumulate Negative Karma than Positive. Upon starting the game, they were all informed of the Karma system feature, however, most of the players did not have their freedom on the line. Walkiria, along with most other players with Negative Karma, had followed their job description to the letter. Their exploration naturally led them to various forms of tests, which were obviously considered as "evil", but did so anyway because it was something that could be done by players. It was how glitches were discovered after all. Unfortunately the system still took note of this. They had largely ignored it because it was merely the test stage.

"Hmm, that makes sense," Ainz mumbled, "I mainly chose my class since I wanted to role play. Unfortunately, you know how heteromorphs are treated. They PK you just because they don't get penalized."

"Hmph, just goes to show you people will do that sort of stuff if there's nothing to stop them," Walkiria said, remembering all the PKs that happened either because players believed that the player death in real life couldn't be proven or certain people, like those in Laughing Coffin, were simply unhinged to begin with.

"Yeah, for a while it was really bad for me too," Ainz said, "Like I said I was going to quit until I was saved by my oldest friend in the game, Touch Me,"

"Uh, what?"

"That was his player name," Ainz coughed, "I know its weird, but I learned to work around it. Together we eventually found others who would become the founding members of the guild..."

-0-

"I guess, I said something I shouldn't have..." Ninya said regretfully as the Swords of Darkness watched the little drama unfold between the two Copper Plates.

Though they couldn't clearly hear anything, it was obvious the Momon and Kairi were talking about a very sensitive topic. Kairi had apparently said something which first had Momon standing up and gesturing angrily. However, whatever she said afterwards seemed to have gotten the black clad warrior to calm down as they now stared sullenly into the fire the magic caster had created.

"One cannot take back the words that one has said," Dyne intoned, "Therefore you must do your best to atone for it afterwards."

"Something bad must have happened in Momon-san's past with his friends," Peter speculated.

"They must have been wiped out," Lukeluther said gravely, "That's the aura of someone who's lost comrades."

An uncomfortable silence descended on the group. Even Nfirea, whose main purpose of hiring Momon was to discover the secret to the red potions, felt like retreating somewhere.

"Perhaps, you should wait until morning to try to apologize," Dyne suggested to Ninya after a few minutes had passed, "People's moods normally improve by then."

Ninya nodded, though unsure how to approach Momon on the subject matter.

"I don't think we'll have to worry about it too much," Peter said, "I'm sure Momon-san won't hold it against you. And besides..."

A chuckle could be heard in the other direction and to the surprise of the members who did not notice, it came from Momon. He was still gesturing but this time he seemed to be in a much better mood. He appeared to be telling a story based on the mannerisms. The members of the Swords of Darkness had seen similar movements done by veteran Adventurers in their youths and early days.

A second surprise appeared when, in the glow of the second campfire, Kairi had actually smiled as Momon said something. Rather, it seemed she was suppressing a laugh and ended up that way. It certainly was different from the expression that she normally had from the limited time they had known her.

"It looks like Kairi-san managed to cheer him up a bit," Peter finished.

"Kuh! I wish I had beautiful girl to comfort me like that! No! I'm not giving up on Kairi-chan!" Lukeluther exclaimed while wrapping his arms around himself.

"Give it up already!" Peter tapped his fist on Lukeluther's head, "Its obvious she's with Momon-san. Right? Nferia-san?"

"Huh? Oh, uh yeah..." Nferia said absentmindedly, his head facing in the direction of the two other Adventurers.

"What?! What?! What?!" Lukeluther asked, pulling their employer close with an elbow hug, "Did you fall for Kairi-chan as well Nferia-san?"

"Uh, no actually, its someone else," Nferia mumbled trying to digest the snippets he heard from Momon's talk.

Damn it! It sounded like Momon was talking about something other than his comrades! Albedo and Tabula or something of the sort. It definitely sounded like ingredients!

While it was true that Kairi was beautiful, Nferia's heart had only one space for a woman. It was also why he hoped to learn about the potion during the trip so he could spend time with Enri- WAIT!

"Huh? Someone else?" Lukeluther's eyes narrowed mischievously.

"Um, actually, since we're talking about it, can I ask something?" Nferia asked shyly, "Are women attracted to strong persons like Momon?"

"Not to sound like I'm slinging mud at my rival for Kairi-chan but he's kind of average looking." Lukeluther answered.

"However, Momon-san is incredibly strong," Peter added, "Based on my observations, women do find that attractive in itself."

"Its true," Dyne agreed, "Strength its own allure."

"Kairi-san will probably have her fair share of suitors but I believe she can choose whomever she wants as well since she is fairly powerful in her own right." Ninya said.

The members of the Swords of Darkness finished the entire train of thought as one. Such was their bond that they did not need to discuss most matters amongst themselves, especially a topic as obvious as this. Due to the dangerous world humanity lived in, women would naturally be attracted to powerful men who could provide a means of defense for them and their children though other factors such as personality played a vital factor as well.

"I-I see..." Nferia's shoulders sagged dejectedly.

"If its not Kairi-san, can we ask what's is it about then?" Peter inquired.

"Uh, well, there's a girl in Carne Village I don't want falling in love with Momon-san," Nferia confessed, "that's all."

He expected to be ridiculed any second. He wasn't a warrior by any stretch. He'd never even gotten into a fight before. As such he wanted to impress Enri in other ways such as his knowledge or magic which would surely be helpful to the village. However, Adventurers once again surprised him when he looked up to see them leaning eagerly towards him.

"So who is the girl?" Peter asked curiously.

"Physical power isn't everything," Dyne intoned, "If you are persistent, your feelings will reach her!"

"Come on! Tell us!" Ninya said excitedly, far less reserved than before.

"Yeah! Big Bro will personally teach you some tech-owww! hey! My face! You hit my beautiful face!" Before Lukeluther could finish, Peter threw an empty bowl at him.

"Give it a rest already!" Peter said annoyedly, "You already ran out of useful things to say this week. He doesn't need your faulty advise."

"What why you!"

Nferia, who was quietly but politely left out of the earlier conversations due to the unfamiliarity of topics suddenly found himself participating actively late into the night.

And so among the two campfires, cheerful tones rose and fell almost as if they were answering each other.

* * *

~ Unknown location, City Outskirts ~

The screams of the doomed and the dying echoed into the night as pleas for mercy and deliverance offered to a multitude of deities went unanswered. It was hard to imagine that such pitiful sounds came from men who had callously perpetrated a broad spectrum of crimes or that most of them were battle-hardened survivors of previous wars with the Baharuth Empire's knights.

They were dying. And there was nothing they could do to prevent it. But in hindsight, perhaps death was a mercy compared to what lay in store for them should the hunters in their midst considered them worthy of capture. At least the death was quick.

Two figures darted among them with preternatural speed, each slaying a man in a single stroke with their sharpened fingers. _Vampire Brides_. To the brigands they were demons of legend but to their owner, they were but servants only better than POP monsters that spawned in her Master's hollowed domain. Any attack was dodged with ease, and the riposte always fatal.

This was the scene before a young lady listlessly filing her nails. Her most distinguishing features being her platinum hair, blood red eyes and pale skin. Her beauty was the stuff of stories by Bards and was (needlessly) enhanced by a dress made of exquisite materials. To her right stood a Butler with a stern expression while to her left stood a maid with cuisses.*** To one simply observing this picture it was easy to form a conclusion that this was a noble's daughter who would grow up to be even more beautiful in the future. If she could grow that is. Vampires did not age in appearance after all.

"Argh! Mou!" Shalltear Bloodfallen yelled in frustration while stamping her foot angrily, further contributing to the image of a spoiled noble's daughter.

"Useless! All of them worthless maggots not worth my time much less Ainz-sama's!"

Her Master had given her the task of collecting individuals capable of utilizing [Martial Arts] which was an ability unique to this world. The plan achieve this was simple: the battle maid accompanying them, Solution Epsilon would pose as a spoiled brat who was naive enough to travel without guards to lure out potential victims. On paper it was reasonable and had worked out four times in fact, this night included, to lure several victims but it had failed to lure out someone Shalltear deemed sufficiently powerful to possess this strange ability no one in Nazarick had ever seen. Hence her frustration.

Having completed their bloody task, the Vampire Brides bowed in front of Shalltear but kept out of immediate striking range. They knew their mistress' volatile nature all too well.

A cough sounded behind her. It had come from the elderly butler, Sebas, The Butler of Steel, who had his own mission given by their Master.

"Perhaps, we should abandon this plan, Lady Shalltear," Sebas suggested in a respectful tone despite being technically of equal standing of her.

"What?!" Shalltear exclaimed angrily, her voice taking a dangerous edge, "Are you telling me to go back to Ainz-sama empty handed?!"

"No of course not," Sebas answered calmly, "I am merely suggesting we alter the plan."

"Fine, at this rate I'm open to suggestions." Shalltear huffed.

"These criminals are unlikely to contain anyone with the ability that has interested Ainz-sama," Sebas began, "I have thus theorized that it must be something obtained through training."

"Training?" Shalltear titled her head, confused.

To her, and every resident of Nazarick, they were aware of all of their abilities from the moment of their creation and knew exactly how to use them and all other details of such. She knew about the concept of training of course but because of how they were made, there was no need for such action and she presumed that the inhabitants of this land were in the same situation since it appeared to be special.

"Indeed, during our last trip I chanced upon a conversation about how individuals known as Adventurers normally possess this skill along with those abilities that we ourselves use." Sebas continued, "From the information I have gleaned they primarily exterminate monsters. I propose that we create a situation to lure them in particular to us."

"Oh?" Shalltear saw the merits of the plan. Since wandering around looking for humans with the ability was uncertain and time consuming (Ainz-sama must not be kept waiting!), it would be better to follow a course of action certain to yield results.

With her fears of failing her mission dissipated she turned to the bloody field behind her as the smell of blood and excreta had begun to mix into a powerful smell. Being a Floor Guardian Shalltear was served with high quality food and would normally not stoop to something like this but perhaps her servants could use a snack.

"You may eat." She waved dismissively at the bowing Vampire Brides.

With leave given by their mistress, the Vampire Brides fell upon the corpses hungrily.

* * *

Author's note:

* She's making it up. There's no such item in ANO but there is one in Yggdrasil.

** They were actually communicating using [Message] and commenting about their surroundings. Aside from time constraints for this chapter, I don't think you want to read about that either.

*** Armor for the lower legs.

So this one really took a while. Aside from being generally busy, my laptop died after years of faithful service and I was really bummed for a couple of days. Thankfully, most my files have a back up.

While this chapter may not be to the liking of a lot of readers, I have already mentioned I dislike writing about fixed events and you can probably see why. So, why not add some drastic change to the story? The answer is nothing short of a radical change will do anything. In fact, we will have to pass through roughly the same events. I've already dropped another character in the story but him meeting Ainz is simply too far away.

I'm hoping to resolve the Zuranon arc by the next chapter so we can finally see some changes to the story. As such, I'm going to breeze through the village arc and the hamsuke arc since they have little impact in both canon and this fic at the moment.

As for the SAO fans, after talking with a reader I've found a way to incorporate Kirito into the story but he will still not be taking an interactive role since he's stuck in his home dimension and all. Let's just say because of that, this story expanded a little bit.

Until next time.


	8. Chapter 8

Return to Carne Village

Disclaimer: I do not own Overlord or SAO

* * *

 _For centuries humanity has lived in darkness, ruled by fear, superstitions and rituals of the arcane. Nature's only gift to humans, his intellect, is slowly but surely overcoming his more primitive origins as the years pass. With his creations Humanity is finally asserting himself over this world, with the fear and uncertainty of the darkness being banished by the illumination of knowledge. But not all creatures wish for the night of Man's ignorance to end..._

 _Will you help usher in the dawn of prosperity for the people of Aurora? Or forever keep the night?_

 _Make your mark upon the world._

 _Select dozens of races and jobs, each with their own inherent strengths and weaknesses._

 _Join with thousands of players online and decide the fate of the world. Form factions and join guilds to alter the very state of Aurora._

 _Freely design armor and weapons even when offline to create a your very own unique avatar._

 _Change your appearance based on your deeds with the Karma System._

 _Will you be the bearer of change? Or the creature that hunts at night?_

 _ANO box blurb. The Primordials edition._

* * *

~ Road to Carne Village, Early morning ~

The group walked a steady pace towards their intended destination, neither in a hurry but not leisurely at the same time.

There was silence among the group, and the reason was not because everyone had just gotten up.

Peter had noted this and looked around. His party-mate, Ninya kept stealing nervous glances at Momon while the latter walked with a bit more spring on his step, quite unlike the state he was in the night before where he was practically dragging his feet.

Seeing the situation, Peter decided that the situation was good enough and did what any leader would do - he got the ball rolling.

"Everyone keep alert," Peter called out, "You never know when we might be ambushed, there might even be a dragon about."

The last part was said in jest. If there really was a dragon in the area where they were headed, as callous as it sounds, a demolished village would be the least of their problems. Dragons reigned supreme when it came to size, strength and wisdom in this world. The only reason Humans thrived as much as they had was, if the legends were to be believed, due to the intervention of the six gods.

He doubted even Momon and Kairi would be able to handle that problem on their own.

After being an Adventurer for quite some time, Peter was under no illusions that humans weren't that special without their spells or [Martial Art].

"Hm? There are dragons nearby here?" Momon asked out loud, though there was no trace of fear or unease.

"There are dragons in this land but they haven't been sighted in generations, Momon-san," Ninya answered.

"Oh? Hmm..." Momon seemed to slip deep into thought at this information.

"Ummm, excuse me, Momon-san?" Ninya began shyly, "About last night, I'm sorry for upsetting you."

"No, no, please, it was I who acted impulsively," Momon waved Ninya off, "It is I who should apologize."

"Ahh, I see..."

Peter smiled to himself the incident had resolved itself. It was probably due to Kairi's intervention that calmed Momon down.

He was quite surprised that the chocolate-haired Adventurer opted to do such a thing in the first place. She didn't seem to be very friendly and had this jaded look on her face that she rarely dropped, hence why her chuckles the night before came as another surprise. Speaking of said Adventurer's expressions...

Peter noted she now had an irritated look, rolling her visible eye when Momon waived off Ninya's apology and offered his own in turn.

"Must not be a morning person," Peter guessed. While the group, including Nfirea retired for the night, Momon and Kairi had apparently kept talking until the early morning.

"There might not be any dragons in this area we must still be on guard, Momon-san," Dyne entered the conversation, "because the forest near Carne is said to be inhabited by a creature called the Wise King of the Forest."

"The wise king of the forest?" Ainz turned towards the Druid.

"Yes, it is said to be part of three different creatures, most noticeably, the reports say its tail is scaled like that of a reptile." Dyne explained.

"Hoh? It sounds like the Chimera from Yggdrasil," Ainz pondered to himself, "My theory that not just the gameplay system but also creatures and items from the game have been transported here seems to be spot on."

With this conclusion Ainz wanted to go and see if the stories were true. If there were Hippogryphs here then there was a chance there was also a Chimera. If he didn't encounter it when they were picking herbs, he could always come back for it later. He snuck a side glance at Walkiria to see her reaction to all of this, but rather than the disinterested look she normally wore, Ainz saw that she looked incredibly irritated. He'd heard of this sort of thing before and decided to follow the advice that came along with it which was to leave the person alone for a few hours. Her waking habits aside, Walkiria's mood was probably compounded by the fact that her race was nocturnal by nature.

It seemed Walkiria was not a morning person.

\- 0 -

Walkiria was in a _very_ bad mood.

She had spent most of the night listening to Ainz talk about the glory days with his friends. This wasn't really a bad thing. All she had to do was listen and it beat the prospect of having to put up with that lech Lukeluther any time. Since the talk was about how they played the game it would be stuff she could understand, at least that's how it started.

Ainz began with some of their earlier adventures when they explored the game, Yggdrasil, and how much they discovered despite being continually PKed or met with a nasty surprise when exploring a dungeon unprepared. Initially, she could only frown at this. Her ingrained behavior of not taking any unnecessary risks had kicked in.

While she was trapped in SAO, Walkiria was overly cautious. When farming for materials or EXP she had an iron-clad rule of never letting her HP drop below half. Whenever that occurred she would pull back no matter how lucrative the drop rate was.

Monsters would re-spawn, she couldn't.

Her caution was all but upgraded to paranoia when the first guild she tried to join tried to kill her for her gear, which was pretty good for her level at the time. It would have worked too, had they not been too obvious about it. It was one of her first kills in the game.

Now that she thought about it, that's where things began to go to hell. They were probably the ones who took a hit out on her. From Laughing Coffin of all guilds*. Their members hounded her for a while until they gave up. Their one mistake was that they sent individuals, not a group. They probably thought she was an easy mark.

She crushed these memories as Ainz continued to talk about his adventures which were actually pretty goofy. One member, Warrior Takemikazuchi, while capable of working in a group continually advocated blind rushes into enemies, be they players or even mobs of monsters. Said player continually declared that he "just wanted to have fun sometimes" and the guild would often try to indulge their inner gamer as well and actually join him. This resulted in glorious adventures when they were starting out even though the pay off wasn't worth it on paper. It was like burning a match just to admire the effect, still it was fun and they could do it.

For her part, Walkiria shed off some of her paranoia when she Beta tested ANO. Since it was partially her job and because it was absolutely necessary for her to do everything she could think of in the game. This meant that she could take bigger risks now that the penalty only cost time, an item or two and EXP, which was cheap compared to your own life.

Soon, Ainz started to tell about how the members slowly left because of real life obligations with him discussing some of their jobs such one being a voice actress, a teacher, an owner of a company with a loving wife and child...etc. This pricked her internally as she never got to realize her own dreams. What struck her during this period of Ainz's talk was that she had never gotten a chance to even _think_ about what she wanted to do.

As she was just a high school freshman when she was trapped in SAO planning her future career wasn't exactly on the top of her list. After the players were released, over a year had passed. Then there was the physical therapy since her body was dangerously malnourished and partially atrophied. Then there were the cases, the eventual house arrest and the list went on. Even mentioning that one of friends was a kind teacher brought a wave of bitterness and spite when she was denied even the special school set up for children and teenagers who were trapped in SAO. Reading whatever you could off the heavily monitored and censored internet in her home only did so much.**

And so this vicious cycle continued until almost at dawn until she grumbled that the others might get suspicious about why they didn't go to sleep. To this Ainz agreed and halted his stories and they retired to their respective tents.

While she was far from the best of moods, however, Walkiria was also proud about how she didn't just lash out despite her inner turmoil. These last few hours had proved to her that Ainz's only buttons were that of his friends and anything related to them, such as their NPCs and that Guild Base. Ainz also had offered her one of the best deals of this cosmic screw-up by inviting her to stay. While she could probably find a place to stay in this new world, it would probably involve a lot of trial and error as she didn't know anything about this world. As she was staying in the 9th Floor of Nazarick she was as safe as she could be from any potential Players, the only threat being if Ainz and most of his NPCs team-up on her.

The fact that she was able to ally with a player who had his own base and utilize some of its resource and other benefits was currently the best deal she could get or so she reminded herself every time she felt like throwing her own tantrum whenever Ainz unknowingly brought up a sore point.

As she did her best forget about the previous night she looked up to check the surroundings since Ainz and the others were talking about dragons or some other creature. One of her abilities, [Life Sign], was active and as they approached the village, Walkiria saw several figures waiting to ambush the party.

\- 0 -

As the group neared the village, they were surprised that there was wooden wall protecting it complete with towers that gave watchers a good view of anyone or anything approaching the village. The appearance was less that of a remote village of the Kingdom and more of a semi-permanent military camp. The Swords of Darkness members asked Nfirea if this was indeed the place and their employer confirmed that it was despite sounding just as surprised and baffled as they were. Their confusion was broken when Walkiria spoke one word -

"Ambush."

"Huh?" Everyone was stupefied at the declaration. Not only was she stolid when she said it, the word seemed out of place when put together with "remote village" along with Nfirea's confirmation that they were in the right place.

Just then several figures popped out of concealed positions. They were equipped with far better weapons than their kind usually were and had remarkable discipline from just a glance. Each expression, though not human, was clearly and deadly serious on what would happen should the party do anything reckless.

"Goblins!" Peter yelled, drawing his sword. His comrades followed suit, readying themselves.

However, they were surrounded and roughly half the Goblins had ranged weaponry at the ready.

"Not so fast there stranger," One of the Goblins spoke in a rough voice, "We don't want any trouble from you, we just can't let strangers into the village eh? Bad stuff happened the last time that occurred."

"We can tell you're all fairly strong, but those two could be a problem," He nodded towards the two black clad Copper Plates, "So let's see if we can avoid a situation we'll all regret."

Nfirea's frightened mind envisioned all sorts of things. Were the villagers overrun by a troop of Goblins and enslaved...or worse? ENRI!

His mind screamed in despair at the thought of any harm coming to his beloved. He must hurry before-

"Okay, here's my counter-offer," Walkiria pushed her way forward.

The Goblins eyed her nervously. Though Ainz and Walkiria were concealing their strength, just a bit leaked out that non-human creatures, on a primal level, were able to sense something coming from them.

"You let us through," Kairi began, "and none of you are gonna become stains on the wall."

"One..."

The Goblins swallowed and eyed each other nervously. The two beings in black were clearly far more powerful than anyone nearby, but if they let them through then Ane-san might be in dan-

"Negotiation's over."

"WHAT?!" Both Goblin and Humans exclaimed in surprise, even Ainz himself was surprised.

"I don't think she was actually planning to negotiate!" Ainz thought as he sweatdropped.

"Um, excuse me? Is someone at the gate?" A timid voice asked before Walkiria could carry out her threat.

"Ane-san! Get back inside!" The lead Goblin ran towards the young woman while flailing his arms, "Its not safe!"

"Huh? What do you mean?" When she looked up, however, her eyes shone with recognition, "Nfi?"

* * *

~ Nazarick, 9th Floor ~

Deep within the guild base of the Tomb of Nazarick, just before the throne room, was the residence of Supreme Beings. Creatures of such power and cunning that all in the world of Yggdrasil knew of their names. At least that was how the NPCs saw it.

In this most private of areas of the Tomb were rooms that made kings look like peasants. Sadly, most of the occupants had already left, making the area eerily quiet. Despite this the Homunculus Maids had continued their assigned tasks without complaint as there was still one of the Supreme Beings left. However, at the moment they could not enter his room.

The sheets of Ainz's bed bulged and shifted as a figure tossed and turned within making soft sounds that would be sure to cause any male's blood to run hot. A head popped out from underneath the covers to look about before chuckling to herself and dove back into sheets giggling like a school girl.

Albedo chuckled as she continued to move around her master's bed. As soon as Shalltear had left that meant that she was the only possible candidate for wife left in the tomb and she intended to fully take advantage of that fact.

This time she would be more proactive in gaining favor from Ainz-sama and what better way to start it off by making sure she left her scent for him when he got back?

The duty of the maids included cleaning the sheets of the room and they reported to her that the bed was occasionally rumpled. This gave her clear proof that her beloved would use the bed occasionally! She would not waste this opportunity, when Shalltear would be away. Albedo already saw herself as being first in line from Ainz-sama's perspective. Was she not that one who managed Nazarick when he was away? Were her skills in sewing and cooking not a cut above the rest? What was Shalltear capable of doing anyway besides being a meat-shield with a pointy stick to Nazarick? Albedo was clearly meant to be Ainz's wife!

Now red like a tomato from blushing Albedo continued her movements before she stopped once more.

There it was again.

It was a strange feeling. Almost like she had forgotten something. Mentally, Albedo went over a checklist. Demiurge was on his way to his next assignment, Cocytus was out on patrol, Aura and Mare were where they were supposed to be. Yes, everything was in order. So what was this feeling?

"Wait..." Albedo's blood (or what passed for it) rushed up to her head once again, "Could this feeling be when Ainz-sama thinks of me?! Hehe Heeee!"

With this thought Albedo dove back underneath the covers.

* * *

~ Carne Village, Enri's house ~

"That's...uh, I'm sorry for your loss Enri," Nfirea said sadly as Enri recounted the events that had happened.

A multitude of emotions rolled over Nfirea as he heard the tale of how knights from the Baharuth Empire had come and murdered many people. Fresh from his fears for Enri's wellbeing from attacking Goblins he didn't think it could have gotten any worse. It did. He had known the elder Emmots for a while and they treated him kindly when he was younger. And that was before he had fallen for Enri.

"It was painful losing them," Enri admitted, "However, at least we are alive. We would not be so were it not for our savior, Ainz Ooal Gown."

Enri then recounted about how a man with a strange mask saved their village from not one, but two attacks. And this time the second attack had involved a numerous magical summons of sorts. Nfirea would have been more skeptical if it wasn't coming from Enri but it also helped to make her account more credible to an outsider when she mentioned Ainz Ooal Gown wasn't alone.

He had two other people with him, a female knight and another apparent magic caster. Enri didn't see the face of the female knight but apparently she had a beautiful voice. The other companion, the magic caster, was named Walkiria. Enri described her as having pale skin with lavender hair. She also apparently very beautiful but according to Enri it was wasted somewhat on her as she had a very uninterested or sleepy look as her expressions.

With the exception of the hair, these characteristics immediately reminded Nfirea of Kairi. Not only was she very attractive but she her expressions were roughly the same as well and didn't seem to change very much.

"Sadly, they left pretty quickly," Enri sighed, "However, the next time they come back I'll be sure to give Ainz-sama my-"

"MY-! YOUR! I-I mean give him what?" Nfirea spluttered before gaining control of himself. Dyne's words floated to the surface of his thoughts.

 _"Women are attracted to strength."_

No, no, no! Nfirea just realized that this Ainz fellow had surrounded himself with beautiful women then that must mean he was a womanizer!

"Huh? Give him my thanks of course Nfi," Enri looked confused at her childhood friend's reaction, "Like I said he left so fast none of us were able to thank him."

"Oh, I see, of course." Nfirea mumbled as he calmed down.

"Well, it doesn't have to be him, he's probably busy," Enri said, "If I can get Wakiria-san or Albedo-san to pass the message I think it would be enough."

"W-wait...Did you say Albedo?" Nfirea asked. He recalled hearing Momon speaking about Albedo. At first he thought it was an ingredient but as he listened Nfirea realized he was talking about a person.

Of course! All the pieces fit! That must mean Momon is-

* * *

~ Nazarick, 9th Floor ~

"Ainz-sama!" Albedo exclaimed joyfully as she heard her beloved's voice through [Message].

"Hello Albedo, did I interrupt your work?" Ainz asked.

 _Teeheee! He really was thinking of me!_

"No of course not Ainz-sama! You could never disturb me!" Albedo purred, "My attentions are all yours."

"Um, right. Anyway, I called in just as I mentioned before to check on things. Is everything all right in Nazarick?"

"Yes my master! Everything is going smoothly, Demiurge has reported a new breakthrough with his task on scrolls and there are no signs of intruders." Albedo was slightly disappointed that he didn't ask about her.

 _Small steps first they say BUT HOW SMALL?!_

"Ah, excellent. Things are going well on my end as well." Ainz replied, "I have discovered many things over our journey and we managed to make contact with the Adventurers Guild. The beginnings of my plan have already been realized. It will only be a matter of time."

"Oh, that is wonderful." Albedo monotoned. Damn! That's what she forgot! That bitch was traveling with Ainz-sama!

"Ainz-sama it has been two days and one night since you were gone," Albedo asked, "Will you not return to Nazarick to rest...with me?"

"What was that Walkiria-san? Oh." Ainz's voice sounded distant while Albedo's blood boiled at the mention of the wretched player's name, "Ahem, Something came up Albedo I have to go. Don't worry about our accommodations. We've found some lodging reasonable enough for our alternate identities. A shared room in an inn. Hmmm...however, maybe I can pack my own tent when I get back the ones we have are kind of small so we've had to...Ah! Something requires my atten-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

* * *

~ Carne Village ~

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

Ainz heard what he thought was a scream before he dismissed it. It couldn't have come from Albedo since he was just talking to her.*** Maybe he cut the [Message] off too quickly and it was some kind of echo? Ah, well it wasn't important at the moment. All he was going to say was that their personal tent was too small, and the fabric was thin enough that with enough light people could see through. What if the spell to hide his undead features only extended to a direct line of sight? That would be bad, and embarrassing.

"Kid's coming." Walkiria repeated for the third time.

"Yeah, all done here," Ainz answered before he turned to face his employer who was sweating and panting. Apparently he had run the entire way from the village to the small hill they were on.

"Momon-san, Kairi-san are you Ainz Ooal Gown and Walkiria?" Nfirea asked breathlessly.

Ainz couldn't say a word. He was completely caught off guard by the question, but his silence was enough to answer Nfirea's question.

"Thank you very much!" Nfirea bowed his head, "Thank you for saving the girl whom I love!"

"You're welcome, however, I would appreciate it if you told no one of this," Ainz replied, finally recovering.

"Understood! I have told no one of this as I ran straight here!" Nfirea stood up straight, "Uh, actually I also have a confession to make..."

Nfirea told him about how they were really hired so that he could discover about how the red potions were made.

"I see, what were you planning to do with this knowledge?" Ainz asked.

Depending on what it was he could probably gain something of it for Nazarick. At the same time he also weighed the cons. If the red potion was as rare as Nfirea claimed it would be, if he mass produced it it would basically be announcing to the world that there were Yggdrasil players. He was not ready to reveal Nazarick just yet so he might have to silence Nfirea.

"I just wanted to know how it was made," Nfirea answered shyly, "I honestly haven't thought that far ahead yet."

"Hmmm, I see, as you had no malicious plans for the knowledge perhaps I can teach you in the future," Ainz replied.

"I see. Thank you very much! I have to go now, Enri is probably wondering why I ran out so quickly." Nfirea said, "Thanks again!"

"Remember, no one must know who we really are." Ainz reminded him.

With another bow, the blond turned to run back down to the village. Ainz was pleased in that he managed to buy the boy's silence with promises of knowledge while keeping the option to deny him with sufficient reason.

"How sweet." said a flat voice.

Ainz turned to see Walkiria who had kept out of the conversation.

"Hey, Ainz, if you're done playing matchmaker its your turn to watch." She said sitting down.

"Alright, what are you going to do?" Ainz asked. He had used his time to check on Nazarick and so he was wondering what Walkiria was planning.

"Cycling through my inventory." She responded, "I only managed to check the most necessary back at your place."

She picked up a pebble and threw it over the hill lazily. Ainz tracked its arc and saw that it embedded itself into the wooden wall of the village. As his gaze wandered into the village square, he saw the villagers practicing with bows with the Goblins as their instructors.

"They're resilient people," Ainz mumbled.

"What part of _me-time_ don't you understand? But yeah, its nice that something good managed to come out of that fiasco," Walkiria said, "At least they won't go down without a fight the next time something happens."

"Kuku, I'm surprised to hear you say that." Ainz chuckled.

"I'm not one of your NPCs, I heard them talking you know," Walkiria said, "They don't seem to like humans one bit. Are they all programmed that way?"

"No, but most are, and it's why I asked you to role-play in the first place," Ainz admitted, one of the few exceptions coming to mind was Sebas, "When we founded the guild, most of us wanted to role-play as much as actually playing the game. One of my earliest friends, Tabula, had an obsession with Horror-themed stuff suggested that when we made NPCs that they be set that way to complete the look. He even listed most of the Tropes he knew about horror creatures. All of the NPCs are heteromorphs after all and thus would have been targeted by Human players if they were real in the first place."

"Tropes? There must be at least a few hundred of them on that subject matter."

"You know about them?" Ainz was surprised, "I couldn't follow most of what he said."

"Just a few. I read some but you have to stop at some point. I think mine is 'human resources' or something because the first thing I think when I see a human is 'food'," Walkiria admitted, "But I don't seem to hate them instinctively."

Human? She'd subconsciously treated people as a separate species now. Great.

That wasn't all the changes she had discovered. All of the lore about High Vampires in ANO seemed to have become real. Walkiria had felt a stinging sensation when walking in sunlight but because she had the perk [Daywalker], which she took so as not to be hampered when playing the game, and so any ill effects were brought down to the level of being a mere annoyance.

"Well, try not to cause a ruckus when we venture out," Ainz suggested, "I won't ask about your eating habits but we're undercover."

"Even if we weren't, what I do in my free time is none of your concern," Walkiria snapped.

"Unless its you trying to eat one of the maids." Ainz gave her a look.

"I'm going to pretend you're not trying to provoke me," She said evenly, "Cooldown time for that ability of mine is 72 Hours. Why don't you put that time to good use by practicing your swordplay? You looked like you were swinging your swords like clubs yesterday."

"I don't think people will notice or even care," Ainz huffed, "The Swords of Darkness seemed impressed enough."

"Actually the people who do notice will be the problem," Walkiria replied, "the higher level Adventurers will have better resources to dig around. They'll probably think you're just a rich kid who got funded by dad at best, and at worse, they'll get curious and start to look into your background. What if they're players?"

"Its your job to look out for any nearby hidden players," Ainz said, "My anti-scrying passives should take care of any magical spying."

"Then what about the regular people who'll doubt your origins? A careless gossip might tip off Players who are nearby." She pressed, "Its not too unreasonable to think you're just acting and actually hiding something? Do you know that you act too nice? People are going to wonder if there really is a person like that, then they'll notice you're just swinging your swords around."

"Ok, I get it!" Ainz grumbled, "And I suppose you're volunteering to teach me?"

"No," Walkiria answered, "But I can teach you the basics if you ask. The last two games I had to Beta had a psuedo-realistic take of swordplay."****

"Sometimes I don't know if your presence is helpful or stressful," Ainz said in a low voice.

He was surprised when Walkiria laughed and placed her had on the cheek of his helmeted head.

"Weren't you listening last night Ainz?" She said with an expression that made Ainz uncomfortable, "Among the few people in those last moments of the game that you could have ended up with, I'm the best deal you'll ever get."

* * *

~ The previous night ~

Kazuki lay awake, facing the opposite of the campfire that the group he was traveling with had made. He had kept his sleeping spot as far away from the fire as possible and closer to the boundaries of the camp. Contrary to what they thought, Kazuki wasn't asleep as he didn't seem to need much sleep.

It had been a few days now on the road and they were moving at a pretty brisk space. Soon they would be approaching that city they mentioned earlier in their "secret talk". He could tell one of them used an ability but not what type. The words sounded foreign and nothing he'd ever heard in ANO. In fact they lacked the activation runes or animations of the game. He guessed that it might have been some sort of security measure for all the good it did them. With his passive [Hunting Prey] which nullified low level concealment spells or abilities he could hear everything they said.

Ever since he had regained his memories he had seemingly entered a funk. The people in the group asked questions but he had answered that his memories, while back, were still a bit jumbled up. While they left him pretty much alone he noticed that they had become much more friendly towards him.

It took him sometime, but he suddenly realized that he wasn't playing the game anymore. All of his senses were sharpened and he felt every bit of sensation he would have in real life and more. Most VRMMORGs could, to a certain degree, allow players to feel sensation but never on this scale. The realization had caused him to pause for a while. The blonde haired member of the group had asked what was wrong before he brushed it off as another surge of memories.

Now he lay awake while they chatted, feeling safe from anyone spying on them, but he heard them.

One of their earlier talks had someone suggest that he be recruited because he possessed a special bloodline.

Fat chance of that happening as he planned to decline any offer to join. Now that he was free, having seemingly become one with his in-game avatar, the prospect of a living in this new world was appealing. Staying with them until they reached the city would be the smart thing to do though, as he knew virtually nothing of this world. However, if these guys were the standard this world had to offer Kazuki's prospects were bright. He couldn't tell how, but he could sense they weren't that strong. He estimated that if he got into a fight with them he wouldn't come out unscathed but the win was guaranteed. He'd fought tougher opponents one on one than this entire group. At best they were probably in the Lvl 60s.

He stretched his arm and watched if grow with fur while his fingers became claws. He had practiced partial transformation in private the night prior and he enjoyed the accompanying feeling of a surge of power. Before the change could be completed Kazuki stopped the process and listened. The conversation didn't seem to stop which meant they didn't notice. Good. It would be too much like those anime or manga where the characters could detect power or something.

Oh, these guys didn't know there was a wolf among sheep. It was his usual style in SAO to blend in with a group of people traveling between floors and ambush them or leave them to be attacked by monsters after promising to help. This left him with some great item drops, but the situation was unique to say the least.

Which raised another question. If he was here, did that mean that other players were here as well? Some might see that as a problem, but he saw it as an opportunity.

* * *

~ Bandit Lair, Unknown Location ~

"Hellooooo~?" Shalltear called into the makeshift cage her flunkies had made, "Anyone in there?"

Though the entire cave was dark, the vampire could see just fine, being a creature of the dark. What she was really doing was calling to the form slumped in the corner of the cage.

The man had unkempt hair, dyed blue and matted with blood not his own. He had a fairly muscular build, an indication that he trained regularly. At his side was the man's most prized earthly possession, a curved blade obtained from a place of legend to the inhabitants of the New World, gripped with some instinctive form of protectiveness. The man wore fairly simple clothes, in contrast to his exotic weapon, being chosen to favor ease of movement rather than defense. The man's line of reasoning was that he only needed one blow to end the object of his lifelong rivalry. In his own hubris he thought was one of the most powerful beings in the world, surpassed only by a dragon or the heroes of legend. This misconception was brutally shattered when she came.

Whether it was by design or pure bad luck she had come into his group's lair, slaughtering all who stood before her. The man thought he could stop her easily. He had fought vampires before and prevailed in his quest to defeat his rival. However, her strength was far from monstrous.

It surpassed the meaning of the word.

His most famous move, one which he designed himself to defeat the Kingdom's strongest warrior, Gazef Stronoff, was stopped with a mere two of the creature's fingers. Again and again he tried to no avail, failing to make the creature even anything but its arm. The man known as Brain Ungulus, who was deemed a prodigy by many, felt like he was digging through a mountain with a spoon. Even that sounded easier than harming the creature before him.

The realization of what he was facing broke him and he attempted to flee, ignoring the tortured cries of the bandits as they were slaughtered. However, just before he could escape through his hidden route, fate turned its face away from him and he dragged unceremoniously back to the cave like child trying to sneak out of the house.

It was there that his reasoning left him, and his mind all but shut down, leaving him in a semi-vegetative state.

"Kuh! That's what I get for trying to start a conversation." Shalltear harrumphed at Brain's lack of response.

"Pardon me, mistress," A Vampire Bride bowed respectfully behind Shalltear.

"Yes, something to report?" The Floor Guardian asked.

"We have encountered a group of these so-called adventurers and killed all but one as instructed," She stated.

"Did you make sure to tell them where we are?" Shalltear asked boredly while filing one of nails.

"Yes, mistress, we stated that we are claiming this cave in particular as our lair," The Vampire Bride responded subserviently, "We have also set summons as a form of early warning to any returning Adventurers."

"Good, now all we have to do is wait," Shalltear said, flopping down onto the makeshift throne her servants had made. Reaching down, she pulled at one of the horribly contorted bodies that comprised the throne and ripped off a head.

"Let's have a snack to pass the time."

* * *

Author's note:

Laughing Coffin was technically not considered a guild, just a group if I recall.

** I might be taking a bit of liberty here with what house arrest actually entails, then again the situation was indeed not normal.

*** Oh, yes it did.

**** SAO and ANO.

Well, here's this chapter. Aside from the usual reasons as to why its late I was having difficulty with getting the conversations to flow better. If you feel like its not very natural here then that was the problem.

On the other hand, the good thing this delay has given this story is refinement of how certain situations will develop in the chapter after this. Last in this announcement is that the Hamsuke Arc and Zuranon Arc will be squeezed into one chapter so that we can finally move on.

Until next time.


	9. Chapter 9

No Good Deed pt. 1

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Overlord or SAO

* * *

T _he Valkyries. Choosers of the slain and Warrior Maidens of the gods. They roam the battlefields searching for the worthy to become the Eienharjar. More than mere heralds or collectors, they are by nature warriors when the need arises, favoring an aggressive style of combat that is both brutal and elegant. But sometimes a Valkyrie wanders too far into the battle. Sometimes, when a Valkyrie tastes blood she becomes enslaved to the hunger for battle, reveling in it rather than observing. The divines have a word for them, unpronounceable by mortals and so they made one they could use: Vampire._

 _And when the first blood drinker walked off the battlefield, dragging her weapon through the bloody mire, the Primordials, the enemies of the gods themselves, laughed._

 _\- Vampire race trailer, ANO Game Trailer, 20XX_

* * *

~ Carne Village, Nighttime ~

"Hoh! Toh!" Ainz accompanied his swings with sounds that he thought a Warrior class player- no Adventurer, would say when attacking.

He did this while simultaneously practicing the swings that Walkiria had shown him when they were in the privacy of the house that the village chief granted them for the night was formerly owned by a fairly large family that met their untimely demise at the hands of the fake Baharuth Knights. As darkness fell over the land, both player had made sure to close all windows and lock both doors of the house. After this, Ainz cast an anti-detection spell which, by game lore, should block out all outgoing sound as well as prevent anyone from seeing inside the house. The result was that the house would be eerily quiet though light from the open cracks could still be seen.

"Ooouuuh!"

"Stop! Stop! What are you doing?!" Walkiria cried out, looking up from the menu she had opened up while Ainz practiced.

"Practicing." Ainz answered as-a-matter-of-factly, "I'm including attack sounds as I go so I'll kill two birds with one stone."

"Including attack... didn't you have vanguards in your guild?" Walkiria asked, still wide-eyed.

"Well, Touch Me was never really one to yell out when he attacked," Ainz stroked his chin, now that he had removed his disguise his skeletal features could be seen clearly in the light of the room.

"Also, Warrior Takemikazuchi and some other members played mostly as Samurai or Shinobi and thus most of their attack sounded like they were practicing kendo." He finished, "Since I'm a western style warrior I thought it would sound strange if I did what they did."

"Oh, well there is that." Walkiria admitted, "I guess its ok if you just use the basic Kiai. In my experience, whenever someone yells in a fight its either because they're emotional or for intimidation."

"Hmmm, so I can work with that I guess." Ainz thought about what he was going to do next.

He practiced a couple of swings with both swords before ending the combo attack with a yell that sounded what he perceived a savage would make.

"Waaaaugh!"

He heard clapping and he turned to the side.

"Not bad," Walkiria said, "Since you're going for the cool warrior type, yelling like that only once in a while would impress people - as long as they're on your side."

"Well, it did sound impressive," Ainz said with a bit of pride. Playing as a warrior-class was looking to be fun.

"Well, don't get ahead of yourself," Walkiria laughed, "I'm going to bed, do you remember what I told you about the basics?"

"Yeah, use one blade to attack or defend at a time, then follow up, don't overextend the arms, etc..." Ainz repeated their earlier talk, "Wait...you can sleep?!"

"Not sure, also while Vampires are supposed to sleep during the day I want to see if its activated willfully or if its passive like IRL," Walkiria said walking towards the bedroom, which wasn't very far given the fact that it was just a village house, "I remember that I had to avoid 'daylight' in the lower levels to prevent damage and stat-drains but later on, when I maxed out a passive, I didn't need to."

"Hmm, right. What about eating? How'd that experiment go?" Ainz asked as Walkiria reached the door. She turned around giving him a conflicted look.

"I can't taste anything but blood."

* * *

~ Cave, Bandit Lair ~

"Hwaaah! I'm bored," Shalltear yawned, "Its been a day already! Why hasn't anyone come over here yet?!"

Shalltear fixed her gaze on her one of her servants, a Vampire Bride, who had the misfortune of attending to Shalltear while her partner stayed near the cave entrance to keep watch.

"Humans are quite fragile mistress," the Vampire Bride bowed subserviently, "Perhaps they have not reached their settlement yet. They are either traveling on foot our of fear or they...simply have no means to immediately return."

"What?! Oh, come on!" Shalltear rolled her eyes exasperatedly, "Almost everyone can teleport back to base. A gate spell, a scroll something. Hell, even a fly spell would shorten the time."

With each passing moment Shalltear became more and more annoyed. It appeared that her servant's reasoning was correct. The humans in this world were far weaker than those back in Yggdrasil. The very first floor of Nazarick had no teleport spell jammers for escapes as her Masters felt that players who decided to turn back were fairly smart, but the humans in this world seemed to be of a new kind of low.

Ever since moving about, Shalltear found virtually no challenge whatsoever. If her servants could dispatch a small group of humans without taking damage, then they simply weren't worth her effort.

Shalltear sunk deeper into the chair made of corpses, her face further deepening into a scowl. It had gotten so bad that her mouth was almost an upside down "U". Suddenly she got an idea.

"Hey! Brian!" Shalltear called to her new pet, "Do the humans here have a faster method of traveling? Specifically those 'Adventurers' we chased away?"

The Vampire Bride almost wanted to say that she had been ordered by Shalltear to leave only one of every group alive that they encountered. So far, she and her partner encountered only two groups, hence, only two humans were alive. However, she feared for her safety as her mistress' moods were quite volatile.

"Helloooooo~" Shalltear picked up a gnawed femur and began to rattle the bars of the makeshift cage.

However, Brain Ungulus sat unresponsive. Aside from breathing, he had barely moved when he was first thrown in there by Shalltear. His eyes were glassy, and his mouth was slightly open. Were it not for his fairly healthy skin tone and shallow breathing one could have mistaken him for one of the corpses.

"Che! That's what I get for being trying to be nice." Shalltear sighed, her hopes for a quick end to the hunt dashed.

 **-0-**

 _"Alright everyone, this is the 75th Floor boss! Stay sharp and remember your jobs!" A silver haired man in white and red armor declared._

 _"Ready? Opening the door now!" The man's second announced._

 _As the doors opened the raid party, with determined cries, stormed the inside of the room to encounter...nothing._

 _Multiple heads turned this way and that, searching for the boss only to be greeted with the same emptiness. After covering every square inch of the room with their vision, the doors leading to the only exit slammed shut with an ominous sound._

 _"Where is it?"_

 _"Can it climb from below the edge?"_

 _"Nope! Nothing's down here!" One brave individual called out after investigating the room's edge._

 _"Hey...listen." A girl with chestnut brown hair whispered. She was wearing the same type of uniformed armor as the silver haired man used, indicating membership with his group._

 _A faint scratching sound could be heard and the girl narrowed her eyes, trying to focus on her sense of hearing._

 _Suddenly her eyes widened with realization._

 _"Above us!" She yelled as loud as she could._

 _With a spike of dread all the Players looked up to see a gigantic form slithering in a hypnotic pattern on the ceiling. Like a predator realizing its prey had detected it, the boss monster released itself from the ceiling and careened towards the group with a chilling screech._

 _"Hey! Move it!" A Player dressed in dark garments with two swords, one obsidian and the other emerald, gestured frantically towards three Players who were too stunned to react to the scene._

 _Finally snapping out of their trance, the three turned to flee but it was too late._

 _Just before landing the Floor Boss swung one of its scythe-like appendages, the motion seemingly cleaving the air itself, and effortlessly sliced through the fleeing unfortunates._

 _They flew towards the group with a single red gash on their chests, their avatars disintegrating before the bodies could even hit the ground._

 _Having landed, the Boss reared itself up into an intimidating height before letting out another screech._

 **[Skull Reaper]**

 _Five HP bars appeared beside the name._

 **-0-**

Walkiria awoke with a gasp. She turned her head around frantically but was greeted only with darkness.

She was back in the wooden house at Carne Village.

Faint sounds could be heard as Ainz continued to train in the next room while accompanying each swing with what he presumed to be the proper yells.

Finally relaxing, Walkiria looked around the room. When she entered she had opted not to light a candle, seeing as how she could see just fine in total darkness. There was only one bed in the room but she wasn't using it. Instead, the Player sat down and tried to find out if the [Sleep] ability could be activated. In the game, in functioned to restore any lost HP and MP as well as remove a select group of status ailments below a certain level. Here, in this New World, it seemed the ability was usable and even worked like the real thing of going unconscious but since Walkiria was not inflicted with status ailments nor had she lost any HP or MP there was no benefit to the act other than its discovery and verification.

"Just a dream," She murmured to herself, still shaking off the images of the battle where ten people died, "Hmm?"

She felt something wet on her cheeks.

After wiping it off with her fingers, Walkiria saw blood. Her blood.

She wouldn't be going back to sleep anytime soon.*

 **-0-**

* * *

~ Carne Village Morning ~

"Be alert everyone!" Peter called out just before the group entered the forest, "The Wise King of the Forest might be up and about."

"We will be careful," Ainz in his Momon disguise replied.

"Excellent, let's begin gathering those herbs!" Nfirea declared, clearly in high spirits.

"[Heh, kid must be so happy to have met his crush again]," Walkiria messaged Ainz as they walked deeper into the forest.

"[Must be really nice]," Ainz agreed, "[Anyway, I already called Aura, a Floor Guardian, over. I plan to investigate or better yet, capture this 'Wise King'.]"

"Any reason why you didn't tell me?" Walkiria asked him, this time out loud.

"I only thought about early in the morning," Ainz said, "I wanted to see first if this creature really is from Yggdrasil and then I got the idea to test out what you showed me last night."

"Yeah, okay, just remember most of those geared towards humanoid opponents," Walkiria mumbled, "You should be fine with the defensive stances though."

"By the way...I've been meaning to ask," Ainz began, "After I find my friends, what do you plan to do?"

Ainz was a bit worried that she might want to stay. Only guild members were allowed residence in Nazarick, and as such she couldn't stay permanently. Maybe drop by every now and then but surely nothing permanent. There was also no way she could become a guild member at this rate even if she fit the criteria, which was two of them. Aside from the two requisites, an applicant had to receive a majority vote in favor of membership with all members voting. Asking for all of the guild to be present was a bit too much to hope for, so Ainz would settle for even half a dozen at most.

"Eh, not really sure," She shrugged, "Maybe travel the world once I know enough about it. It is relatively new."

Ainz breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe if she would agree to it she could bring new information about the places she went to? It seemed like a good idea, so he would broach it to his friends once they were found. Still, that did sound nice. With his undead body, there would be no need for rest or other concerns of normal people. Maybe he could do that as a hobby as well? There were teleport spells after all.

"That your NPC?" Walkiria interrupted his thoughts, "Up in the tree."

"Hm, ah, sorry I was thinking," Ainz snapped back to reality, "Hello Aura, was anything amiss on the way here?"

A small figure, the size of a child, somersaulted from the top branch of a tree and landed neatly on its feet without strain.

"Greeting Ainz-sama!," The young dark elf bowed respectfully, "Things are fine in Nazarick when I left. However, Albedo-san asked if you require a new traveling companion?"

She shot a glance at Walkiria who gave off nothing towards the new arrival.

"Umu, that is fine," Ainz nodded, "I am currently fine with this set-up, any further members might strain Nazarick's resources. I want to be able to deploy fresh troops in case of an emergency."

"Ah, I see..." The dark elf's ears drooped slightly but not by much.

In truth, that was only part of the reason. The salary man in Ainz, Satoru Suzuki, felt a great pressure from suddenly being thrust into role of President of a company. It was as if everyone above his rank suddenly got food poisoning and he was left in charge. While it felt like he was running from his responsibilities, Ainz was confident he would grow into the role soon enough. Just not this quickly.

And so he left most of the details to be managed by Albedo and Demiurge who, at least in their specs, were the smartest in Nazarick.

He then turned his gaze to Walkiria to stared off into the distance. While her company ranged from tolerable, sometimes even pleasant, she was also rude and abrasive whenever Ainz surmised she felt confronted. However, she was, as she was so fond of repeating, a person like Ainz was (hopefully still is) and he could talk freely around her and not act like the all-knowing supreme one the NPCs made him out to be. This took a lot of the pressure off him and so it was good investment.

"Right then," Ainz coughed, "Aura, here's the plan..."

 **-0-**

Aura, along with her pets, sped though the forest at double their usual pace. The reason was that she wanted to make up for lost time. She had secretly delayed revealing herself to the Supreme Being, not that she could hide for very long that is, upon instructions of Albedo to observe the interactions between their master and the outsider. Since she was exposed by the outsider, Aura had no choice but to reveal herself once her master called out to her. Still, the dark elf surmised, she had seen enough. She would report everything she saw to Albedo once she returned, including the glances Ainz-sama seemed to keep giving the other player...

 **-0-**

As Nfirea gathered the herbs both Darkness and The Swords of Darkness kept a look out for any of the forests denizens. Any wish made for a relatively peaceful day was denied when a loud rumbling could be heard, and it was headed for their direction.

"What is that?" Ninya asked.

"Sounds big, and its headed this way." Lukeluther guessed while nocking an arrow.

"Its probably the Wise King of the forest," Dyne added. As if to validate his guess, flocks of brids flew overhead, away from the direction the rumbling.

"We have to evacuate at once!" Peter declared, "Mr. Bareare! Back to the village."

Nfirea clutched as much of the herbs as he could and headed back towards Carne with the group.

Darkness, however, remained where they were.

"We will hold off the Wise King while you retreat," Ainz declared in a confident tone, "The client, and the safety of the village is paramount."

"W-wha? are you sure Momon-san?" Peter was unsure, "The creature is legendary around these parts."

"We can handle it," Walkiria answered, "There's two of us."

Faced with the charismatic confidence of Ainz's tone Peter reluctantly wished them luck before leaving.

"Well, then let's get this done." Ainz pulled out his two giant swords, "Do you mind if I take this?"

"Have fun." She said dryly, leaning against a tree.

There was a rustling of leaves and Ainz blocked an attack that would have been impossible to see for a normal being. His dynamic vision saw the thing that had attacked him, it was an appendage, likely a tail but was ridged. After a second follow up attack which was blocked easily by Ainz the tail retreated into the bushes.

 ** _"Hoh hoh! To be able to defend against my attacks must mean you are an exceptional warrior!"_** Came a disembodied voice, " ** _It would be a shame if you were to meet your end here, thus I will grant you a chance to leave gozaru!"_**

Ainz, however, was thinking something else.

"If this is a normal attack, I could have done this even without Walkiria-san's advice," He thought annoyedly, "I'll have to see if I can squeeze out more from this encounter."

"I'm afraid I'll have to decline," Ainz responded, "I came here for a challenge, yet I am greeted only with an opponent who hides itself."

[Over there, to the left]," Walkiria messaged him, after she activated [Life Signs], "[Pretty big though.]

Ainz turned in the direction stated and raised the sword in an open challenge, though he was not sure the creature would understand.

 ** _"Hoh hoh! So it is a fight you seek! Very well, thou hast sealed thy fate!"_**

The bushes parted revealing the creature's glowing eyes as well as runes on its belly. Its sharpened claws and teeth gleamed in the sunlight. Soft, fluffy fur covered the entire body, aside from the tail.

"Behold my terrifying form, gozaru!" It declared.

Ainz and Walkiria were dumbstruck. A hamster?

A GIANT HAMSTER?!

"Hoh! Hoh! Frozen with fear are we?" It rumbled.

"Um, May I ask something?" Ainz said, "Is your species called Djungarian Hamsters?"

"Oh, so you know my kind gozaru?" The creature asked, "May I ask where they are? I must reproduce soon otherwise I fail at being a living creature."

"Um, no, sorry, they are all tiny compared to you," Ainz fumbled, "My friend once had one as a pet."

"I see, I am sad gozaru," It drooped, "Anyway! Let us continue our fight to the dea-"

During this uncomfortable period for Ainz, Walkiria had walked towards it without any weapons drawn.

"Oh? Sacrificing yourself for your comrade? How brave!" It declared, "Or do you wish to fight me yourself? My claws are like steel! My tail is like a club! My fur is like the rock of- argh! HRk!K!:G!"

"Hmmm~so fluffy!" Walkiria crooned as she hugged the giant creature, unaware of the effect her hug truly had. Even with all of her debilitating passives turned off, her strength stats could not be suppressed.

"Hey, want to try petting it?" She called back to Ainz. By this this time she had forced it to lie down and was now vigorously patting its head.

"Um, no I think I'll pass." Ainz mumbled, his mind too confused at what was happening. He wasn't sure which was more strange, a giant hamster or Walkiria's sudden change in demeanor.

"I surrender...gozaru." The creature pleaded, raising an arm after a while.

"If you don't want it can I have its fur?" Came an energetic voice from a tree, the two players looked up at Aura who was lazily swinging her legs,

"If the fur is really as soft as she says it is it'll make a great pelt."

"Noooooo!"

* * *

~ E-Rantel, Nighttime ~

"Please don't stare..." Ainz pleaded silently as people gawked at the giant hamster he was riding.

When he, the Swords of Darkness and Mr. Bareare returned several of the guards stared at him and Walkiria and at the beast they were both riding. During their return from the forest Ainz had declared that he was taking the creature as his pet and the reaction was not what he expected. Rather than be flabbergasted like he was, the Adventurer Party acted like he'd tamed some kind wyvern. Even Walkiria's reaction (its fur really was soft!), was somewhat understandable.

Still, with the creature's disappearance from the forest there might be new threats to the village. Nfirea had begged to join his party but Ainz declined, instead promising to come to the village's aid whenever it was needed. This was easily solved as he could always send someone over to watch over the village and keep him updated on what he had in mind and that, like Walkiria, it would be impossible to join the guild even if he welcomed the Pharmacist.

Now however...

"This so embarrassing!" He thought. If he had blood and cheeks he would be as red as a tomato by now.

Even Walkiria thought it was ridiculous and grumbled the whole trip.

"Great, two rodents for companions, highest point of my life." He'd heard her mumble, referring to his original name as Momonga.

"I heard that!" He protested angrily inside his head.

Thankfully she quieted down once she sat on the creature's soft fur. She patted it occasionally which sent a shiver** throughout the giant hamster.

"Oh, back from Carne Nfirea?" Came an elderly woman's voice, "My! What is this!?"

"Granny!" Nfirea hopped down from the cart, "This is Momon-san, an Adventurer, he tamed the Wise King of the Forest!"

"Really? Tell me about it." Peter and Nfirea took turns narrating the tale, on how they reached the village safely but felt the King's approach when gathering herbs up to how Momon had subdued it, though they did not know how.

"Oh! Only a majestic creature like this could be called the Wise King of the Forest!" Nfirea's grandmother said.

In response the hamster puffed its cheeks in pride, while Ainz resisted the urge to face palm.

"Not again!" He complained privately. Was it only his sense of aesthetics that was wrong?

"Nfirea, why don't you head on home?" Lizzy Bareare suggested, "Its late as it is. I already closed the shop."

"Hmm, I'll just drop off the herbs I gathered there first granny," Nfirea responded after giving it some thought.

"We will escort you home, Nfirea-san," Peter offered.

"Alright, thanks. This way then!" Nfirea led the way.

"Pardon me," Ainz cleared his throat, "But is the guild still open at this hour? I wish to register the King as my pet and mount."

"Yes it is young man," Lizzy answered, "Its always open."

"Good, at least I'll get something from this embarrassment," Ainz thought. If he registered the King as a pet it could help with raising his rank given how people reacted to it.

"Kairi-san, could you go with them and see if they're safe?" Ainz asked, "We'll meet up in the guild after."

"Sure, why not?" Walkiria answered flatly. She thanked Lizzy Bareare who gave her directions to the shop as she left, confident that her nightvision would ensure she wouldn't get lost.

* * *

~ Bareare Potion Shop ~

"Huh?" Nfirea wondered as the door opened easily, "I thought granny said she locked up?"

"Is something wrong Mr. Bareare?" Dyne asked.

"Um, I'm not really sure," Nfirea answered unsurely as he stepped into the shop. It could simply be that granny had thought she locked up but in actuality didn't. There seemed to be nothing amiss, and all the display cases were intact.

"Helloooo there!~" Came a melodious voice.

All five turned to the source to see a cloaked figure leaning against the wall. As it stood up the cloak loosened, revealing the owner of the voice was female as evidence by her...revealing outfit.

"Friend of yours?" Lukeluther asked while slowly inching his sword hand to his belt.

While his words were casual, he wasn't quite unaware of the danger which was also true for the rest of his team. The movement revealed not just the woman's outfit but also the weapons which hung on her belt.

And one was drawn.

"Oooh!~ And here I was wondering if you'd ever show up Mr. Potion maker~" She crooned, "Say, won't you help a girl out with that wonderful Talent of yours? Hmm~?"

"Mr. Bareare please escape!" Peter called out, drawing his sword, "We'll-"

His declaration was cut short when a Stiletto buried itself hilt-deep into his skull.

"-Hold them off?" Clementine finished as her maniacal smile finally broke out.

"Peter!" Ninya yelled in grief as her leader's body crumpled to the floor.

"Clementine! I told you we're in a hurry!" A raspy voice came from behind.

The remainder of the Swords of Darkness turned to see a robed man with sickly pale skin and a pointed bald head. Behind him stood some people who clearly had something wrong about them. One of the followers had Nfirea hung over his body like a sack of potatoes.

"Zombies!" Dyne declared, having a bit more experience in this area.

"Gee, you're no fun at all Dale," Clementine grumbled as she freed her stiletto and unhung her mace, "Can I bring one back alive?"

"No, you can't!"

 **-0-**

"Take a left here, keep going straight," Walkiria mumbled Lizzy directions as she encountered whatever landmark was described in order for her not to get lost.

While she and Ainz explored the city for a day, it was impossible to cover every district even with their undead stamina. Instead, they visited the most "useful" areas of the commercial district such as the weapons and armor shops, trading houses or guilds and the smiths. They had avoided the market since eating was useless for them along with the potion area.

"Feels like one of those NPC quests they hand out to beginners," She thought, "At least we've got a hamster for a pet now. Its a lot better than those creepers Ainz keeps ar- what the hell?"

She looked down to see splotches of dark liquids on the clear stones of the street. While this was not really unusual given the mostly medieval setting of this world, something about puddles struck her as odd. Her senses were converted to that of her avatar's and so she could smell better than most creatures back in her first life. These puddles were...

Walkiria took another sniff without crouching. She wouldn't degrade herself by sniffing like an animal. It took a several seconds but she finally knew what it was. Blood. But it was old. Much like how a person can tell that food has gone bad, an original smell lingers and this was what she smelled. It was definitely blood but rancid from age.

The Player followed the trail as it disappeared past the corner, the area where the pharmacy was located.

"Oh, good a road sign," She huffed, drawing out her wand.

It was a fairly curious design. The angle was shaped like a wheellock pistol, allowing the user to hold with the point at the opponent rather than the awkward 45 degree of ordinary wands. It could cast a simple Fireball spell up to a Fire Blast, which was a mid-ranked spell, and had its own charges or usage limit. Walkiria herself had access to several mid-ranked spells but hardly used them since they were an unnecessary and wasteful drain on her MP. The only reason she had them was that they were the type that could be used by almost any race or job and because she had consumed the tomes they were stored in as part of testing. However, a direct combat based build hardly needed these abilities and so they were almost forgotten. She had remembered them only when she was reviewing and exploring her abilities back in Nazarick.

"Well, its not like those quests were always bland," She thought, "Better call this in."

* * *

Author's note:

Part two is direct continuation of this "Chapter" because the doc is apparently too long.


	10. Chapter 10

No Good Deed pt. 2

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Overlord or SAO

* * *

~ Bareare Pharmacy ~

"AAAAAAAAAAAAH!" A Ninya screamed in pain for what appeared to be an eternity after Clementine had brought her mace down on her knee. The psychotic former Black Scripture member grinned evilly, seemingly reveling in the suffering she caused. First the screams were muted when she started on the arms, then she decided to move lower.

"Peter...Dyne...Lukeluther..." She whispered her fallen teammates' names between gasps of pain.

"Ehe, hehe, you'll have to try harder," Clementine giggled, "They can't HEAR you!"

Before she could bring the mace down onto the other leg something flew past her and hit Ninya in the face. The Adventurer screamed in pain clutching her face before slumping down, twitching for a few seconds.

Clementine turned around with an annoyed look to see Khajiit with his staff raised.

"Enough of this Clementine!" Khajiit groused, "You've had your fun! We have to get back now. The [Silence] spell I've cast is about to expire."

"Not nearly enough fun," She pouted, giving the appearance of a spoiled child. Khajiit knew better.

"What do you call these guys then?" He gestured towards the Zombies, one of which held an unconscious Nfirea. They all had several puncture wounds. He had brought them along because he did not trust Clementine to handle the boy and also due to the fact that decomposition was not yet so pronounced.

"Aww, that was last night Dale!" Clementine protested.

"Don't call me that," He retorted, "Let's go before-"

Whatever Khajiit was about to say was cut short when both of them heard a dull thud. Khajiit turned around readying his staff while Clementine's frown turned into a grin.

"Ahem. Excuse me," A voice interrupted.

The person standing before them was female, likely an Adventurer, dressed entirely in black with purple accents. Beneath her feet were two of the five zombies Khajiit brought along, ripped apart in some horrific manner. There was a dull gleam in the darkness indicating a drawn weapon.

Khajiit's eyes traveled up to her neck as if to confirm his suspicions. He was right.

"Che! Just a copper plate." He snorted, "I don't have time for this! [Acid Jave-"

A tan and brown figure rushed past him before he could complete the spell.

"Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine!" Clementine chanted maniacally, swinging her club at Walkiria's head intent on knocking her unconscious and bring her back to the graveyard. At least, that was the plan.

There was a silver flash as her mace was parried. Then again. Then again. Then AGAIN!

"Hehe! Hahaha! Feisty aren't you?!" She giggled crazily, "Well then! [Invulnerable Fortress]"

The former Scripture operative activated a Martial Art which negated any form of damage whatsoever as long as it was a physical attack. Her opponent's strike, which had a bit of weight to it despite being clad in what looked like a Magic Caster's attire, bounced off Clementine's mace.

"Ehehehaha!" She cackled in her head, "Now the fun part! [Full Throttle]!"

This time, the Martial Art would propel the user at ridiculous speeds but Clementine only used that effect to aid her strike. Against an unarmored opponent like this one, the attack would most likely shear her leg off. There was a snap and then-

"Wha-?" The Martial Art's increase of her speed also affected her perception and she turned with surprise to see half of her mace in the air. It broke. It had broken against _her opponent's_ leg!

"Oh, dear! Let me get that." Walkiria said, seizing Clementine in a vice-grip.

"Don't get cocky!" Clementine sneered drawing a spare stiletto and brought it down towards her opponent's shoulder where it would punch through the gap in the bone and into her lungs.

The blonde felt a dull resistance and a splash of blood erupted.

"Finally," she grinned.

"Ehehe, oops, looks like I missed one." Her opponent smiled looking over to her right, "I thought I had that deactivated. Or maybe I missed it? If I did, will the disguise not hide it? Well, these clothes are physical..."

Clementine looked, ignoring the babbling, and realized it was her own blood. Her hand was on the floor, cleanly severed, still holding the stiletto. There extended to the right, almost crashing into the wall was sinister looking wing with purple membranes. Its tip and edges gleamed with a light that sword users would easily recognize as a sharpened edge.

"OAAAAAAH!" Clementine screamed in pain as she struggled to break free. What was this?! She was supposed to be the one killing! Not the other way around!

"Oh, do be quiet, you'll make the blood leak out faster," The 'Magic Caster' chided before enveloping her into an intimate embrace. Clementine felt her own head being nudged aside as she continued to scream and resist but it was useless. Despite being stronger than her size implied it was as if she was encased under a mountain.

During this time, which lasted only a few seconds, Khajiit's expression changed from annoyance to shock. A former Black Scripture member, someone who he had to summon a Skeletal Dragon to overcome was defeated in a few seconds by...what the hell was she?!

The wing which erupted from her cloak looked like nothing he'd ever seen before, and in his quest to become undead he'd seen a lot.

"Ah, the _what_ question. Well, its not a very original choice to begin with," Her jaw opened and expanded, revealing dagger-like teeth, "So stop me if you'd heard this one."

With a violent motion the thing that was passing itself off as an Adventurer sank its mouth into Clementine's neck and began to drink greedily.

"Heee!" Khajiit ordered two of the remaining three zombies to attack. The second they approached the creature they were sliced in half by another wing which erupted from the other side of the creature's cloak. However, it didn't matter as Khajiit had used them as meat shields, literally, to escape along with the last zombie which carried Nfirea.

The time it took for the two zombies to die, Khajiit frantically reached into his cloak and drew out one of Zuranon's treasures, a teleportation scroll and hurriedly broke the seal. While preparing to use it, he disengaged [Silence] to make use of all his magical reserves. As it activated, the Pharmacy's surroundings blurred but before they could resolve into the now familiar graveyard, Khajiit was willing to be bet his [Orb of Death] that the roar that seemed to chase through them time and space wasn't human.

* * *

~ Bareare Pharmacy, Walkiria ~

"Kah! I'm full!" Walkiria sighed contentedly, letting Clementine's body drop. It was shriveled now as the player had gorged on the blood that hadn't spilled out from its wrist wound.

"Oh crap," She turned to see the Swords of Darkness on the floor. Obviously dead.

As if disputing her assessment, three of the four rose rose up with groans. Their eyes were glassy, skin pallid and their jaws hung slack. They couldn't fit the definition more of 'zombie' if they'd tried.

"Good time as any," She thought. Walkiria extended her wings and just before zombie Peter and zombie Lukeluther could get within striking range of their weapons they were sliced in half.

"Wow!" She thought, "I knew wings in the game added to your attack and other stuff but this is just amazing!"

Wings were part of racial appendages in ANO and as long as a Heteromorph-type player had them, they would receive the same perk, [Living Weapon], but with different effects. For example, Trolls and Naga could use their tail as a weapon to attack opponents, though the base type was only a Blunt-strike.

With her test complete, Walkiria discovered it was a feeling somewhere between instinct and will that activated it, she extended the lower wings. It actually felt good, like stepping out of shoes just a size too small. She used all four wings to pin zombie Dyne and lift it into the air. With a mental command all four wing-tips ripped apart the zombie.

Walkiria sighed. Looks like Ainz was right after all. They _were_ becoming their avatars. She neither felt disgust nor remorse for her actions just now, much like the first time. The only thing left was a morbid curiosity of how else her abilities were translated into physical from since coming to this world.

"hmm?" She turned to see Ninya slumped against the wall. Her brutalized form told a clear enough picture of what happened. Some remnant of her humanity pitied the young adventurer. As she stepped closer, Walkiria noticed Ninya's clothes were torn in the chest and looked down.

Ninya was a girl.

"I don't have any items to resurrect another player, just myself," Walkiria thought, "But I wonder..."

In the game, Vampires in ANO had an ability, [Damning Gift], to make a lower class Vampire NPC whenever they bit another NPC. Some players used this tactic to wipe out entire NPC villages and sent the appropriate report. Of course, their Negative Karma wouldn't affect them in any way since their freedom wasn't on- _Focus damn it!_

Deciding to test her theory, Walkiria felt Ninya's neck. No pulse, but still warm.

"Here goes," She thought, opening her mouth and biting into the neck. [Damning Gift].

"Ugh, at least it was just a sip." Walkiria grimaced. Drinking from a corpse was like drinking a beverage meant to be taken hot but was left to cool for several minutes. With her transformation her senses were heightened to new levels that allowed minute but telling comparisons.

Suddenly the body twitched and its head slowly rose, revealing burning red eyes.

"Ninya...its me, Kairi," Walkiria tried, "Are you alright?"

Rather than respond however, "Ninya" let out an inhuman roar and lunged past Walkiria and pounced on Clementine's corpse. Like a starved animal, the thing that Ninya had become tore into the corpse with sudden and violent movements, rending flesh with now sharpened teeth, greedily trying to swallow chunks of meat. Bits and pieces fell out of what remained of its mouth as "Ninya's" face was almost ruined.

Walkiria for her part watched in fascinated horror at what she had done. Not the terror a human would have but of a maker whose work came out wrong, like an erroneous stroke of the brush on a nearly completed painting. When she drunk in the past she did so to the point that victims died but they did not turn, so at least it there would be no accidents but this...

"Ninya stop!" She ordered.

Like a puppet with its strings cut, the thing halted all movement. To a human the abruptness would be unsettling, like a predator having noticed prey that had approached rather than flee. However, to Walkiria it was more like a pet having been caught doing what it was told not to do. She knew this because she felt some kind of connection to it in her mind.

"Come here." Walkiria testing out another of her theories.

Obediently, "Ninya" turned and half hobbled over to her, coming to a stop a respectful distance away.

"If you consider yourself still human, say so." She instructed. In response Walkiria was greeted with a head tilt and a questioning purr.

"Shit." Realization hit her.

This wasn't Ninya anymore. Just some kind of undead thrall.

She pulled out her staff, one that generated an ELK spell.

"Sorry, kid," Walkiria muttered, raising the staff, "But at least you got some payback."

The blunt end of the staff came crashing down on "Ninya's" head.

* * *

~ Bareare Pharmacy, Ainz ~

"What happened here?!" Ainz barged into the shop with a sword drawn.

He saw a few bodies of people he didn't recognize, but that didn't last long as his gaze soon found the bodies of the Swords of Darkness...or what was left of them.

"Abduction," Walkiria said in a suspiciously neutral voice, "They took the kid and used a teleport scroll."

"Nfirea!" Lizzy's frantically called as she ran past Momon and called for her grandson inside the shop.

"Really?! Didn't I just say he was abducted?" Walkiria looked at the door the elderly pharmacist disappeared through.

"She's worried beyond reason," Ainz said, "or may be she just didn't hear you. She was a few steps behind."

Walkiria's behavior was of some cause for concern to Ainz. Being no longer able to have the physical hormones to immediately sympathize with humans, she was looking at the logical side of things. This also meant it would apply to him too. He only needed to look at the floor to confirm it. Chunks of meat and some yellow hair obviously belonged to a human being, but Ainz felt no revulsion or disgust, instead his first approach after determining that it was human was to try to discern if it was male or female, but there was little hope for that given its condition.

"One of the culprits?"

"Yeah, I think her name was Clementine or something," The other player shrugged, "Heard them talking before I entered. The bald one was Dale."

"Was he-"

"Don't worry your little polished head, _Momon_ ," Walkiria cut him off, "He wasn't the _P_ word. And he was the only one aside from her that wasn't a zombie."

She pointed to the mess of parts on the floor.

"But you couldn't stop him?" Ainz asked.

"What did you expect?" She answered defensively, "Did I forget to mention that I was pre-occupied or the teleport scroll? What would you have done? Jump in swords swinging?"

Well, she had him there. Ainz himself would have likely hung back and observed, trying to draw out as much information as he could from these people. Besides, their job was to escort Nfirea Bareare from this city to Carne and back. On a technical standpoint they had upheld their contract.

"I wan't accusing you of anything," He said. Was he? No, he wasn't, Ainz was sure now. "I'm just trying to get as much info on the situation as possible."

"Well maybe you ought to change your tone or maybe you helm-"

"Nfirea!" Lizzy sobbed as she stumbled back into the room they were in. "He's gone."

"I said that already." Walkiria said testily.

"Hmm, perhaps we can help ma'm," Ainz said, sensing an opportunity, "We can track the perpetrators with Kairi-san's magic but time is of the essence."

"You can?" Lizzy asked surprised.

"If you hire us, we can do so without fail," Ainz answered in his most confident voice.

"What will it cost?" Lizzy didn't live to her old age without sensing a catch. A lifetime of potions? A share of the earnings of the shop? Each?

"Everything."

"Everything?" Lizzy repeated in disbelief, "They say only the devil asks for everything. Are you one?"

"Perhaps," Ainz responded, "But its a fair trade for your grandson right?"

"Maybe you people are indeed devils, maybe not," Lizzy said, "But you're right. I'd like to hire you."

"We will begin immediately," Ainz sighed internally, he didn't like gambling. What if she thought they were in league with the abductors?

"It will be quick. Please allow us to use the room, along with some privacy."

Ainz shut the door and cast a silence spell to be sure.

"Now then, lets begin." He said, "Here's a scroll to locate Nfirea."

Walkiria took the scroll and looked it over. Finally she seemed to discover how it worked in this world and was about to use it up before Ainz stopped her.

"Wait! You need to set up the counter measures first!" Ainz said angrily, "Didn't you do anything like this before?!"

"Whenever I teamed up, we had someone for that," She shrugged, "Besides."

Ainz reacted with horror as she used up the scroll.

"Time is of the essence for _my magic_."

"Are you insane?!" Ainz raged, "What if they have counter spells?! What if someone else is watching them?! What if they're working for a Player?! What if-"

"Since 'what' is word for the night," Walkiria said coolly, "I suggest you watch _what_ you say to me."

Ainz said nothing as he continued to seethe at her casualness with the situation.

The scroll did its job and an image of a graveyard formed revealing what must have been thousands of undead milling about.

"Relatives of yours?" She smirked.

"Very funny," Ainz growled, as he manipulated the image.

He brought it up until it was like an overhead map and dragged the view until he found an area with the largest and intact mausoleum. From there he zoomed down to witness a group of hooded figures chanting around a sickly pale bald man who held black and purple orb.

"That's baldy alright," Walkiria confirmed.

"Figures," Ainz snorted in his mind, "the first place to locate villains based on TV shows and it actually works."

Well, not that he could blame them. If they situated themselves at any point other than the center then an attacking force would simply have to work their way around the front. Based on this formation, then they were either planning to hold out or it was a delaying tactic. Either way, he was going to use this to boost his fame.

"We've located the perpetrators," Ainz announced as he opened the door, "They are in the city's largest cemetery. However, I need you to go to the Guild office and warn them that there is a large undead force within the cemetery. We can handle this though we might need a cordon of Adventurers in case any undead break through."

"They're literally everywhere," Walkiria added, stroking a lock of her chocolate-brown hair.

"Let's use Hamsuke to get there quickly." Ainz said. Aside from not showing they could run at superhuman levels without tiring, he wanted to use the Wise King's fame for dramatic effect when he arrived on scene.

"Hamsuke?" Walkiria gave him a questioning look.

"Yes, I named her that after registering it as our mount in the guild." Ainz replied watching Lizzy disappear around the corner, "What?"

* * *

~ E-Rantel, Cemetery ~

Ion yawned. He hated the night shift. He hated having to guard the place at this hour. However, guards were necessary for a variety of reasons. The first was to prevent grave robbery and any other illegal activities that might be done in the cemetery. The second, and far scarier reason, was to prevent any undead from rising and/or leaving the cemetery. In this world whenever enough of the dead were close there would be a chance that they would rise and attack the living. The stronger the negative emotions, the higher the chance of it happening. Ion himself had to put down two skeletons this month. That was a lot by his standards.

"What's the rattling sound?" He wondered.

"Alarm! Undead! They're going to-"

Ion looked up just in time to see the sentry get crushed under a giant hand. It wasn't just any giant hand. It was a giant hand made of human corpses. And the thing that owned it rose above the wall, giving a pained groan as the bodies that composed it writhed in agony.

"I'm dead." He thought calmly. Strange, they always said your life flash before your eyes.

As the thing looked down on the stunned guards, there was streak of light and the thing collapsed back behind the wall. In his eerily calm state, Ion could see a giant sword lodged in its forehead as it fell backwards.

"Greetings," Came a dignified voice behind them, "We are the Adventurer team Darkness, we have a mission beyond these walls. Please open the gates."

The voice belonged to figure clad in ornate jet-black armor. Behind him was a beautiful woman clad also in black but looked to be a magic caster.

Ion didn't know what was more impressive, their gear, the act which could been done by no one else but the tall warrior, or the magnificent beast they rode. What added more to his shock was that he saw their Adventurer plates. They were Copper. The lowest rank.

"Are you mad?!" Ion's sergeant yelled running down from the steps, "There are thousands of undead over that wall! And you're just a couple of Copper plates!"

As if to prove his point, the gates burst open revealing a crowd of undead in varying stages of decay. Their eyes glowed with an unnatural light as they shuffled hungrily towards the living.

The guards readied their weapons to meet the threat head-on, however futile it might be.

Before they could charge the armored Adventurer's companion stepped ahead of them and aimed her ornate staff. A lightning spell activated and reduced the horde into dust. She turned to the magnificent beast that they rode on and spoke.

"Stay here Hamsuke, you'll slow us down."

"Yes, mistress," The creature bowed its head subserviently.

"Let's go," The armored adventurer said, "I need to get my sword back."

As the two disappeared there were sounds of a fight...and then nothing.

"Did they die?" Ion thought scrambling to the top of the wall.

What he saw was not a horde of undead or the two adventurers being mobbed to death. Rather it was a field of corpses that the two had left in their wake.

"We might have witnessed the beginning of a legend," Ion's captain muttered under his breath.

 **-0-**

"Toh!" With a single swing Ainz destroyed three skeletons with his massive sword. Another swing from his other hand likewise destroyed a zombie trying to close in on him.

For several minutes the scene was like this. The storm of one-hit kills continued for several minutes as none of the undead could challenge them. Initially while Ainz was having fun, finally able to try melee combat with little risk to himself, the repetitive nature was getting to him. Unlike the duels described by Walkiria the other night, his opponents might as well be made of straw and lacked any ability to retaliate or make the fight interesting.

He eyed his 'partner' who had kept up with him in her own way. Just like in the forest, she seemed to utilize mid-tier spells which devastated entire groups at a time and didn't seem to bother with more efficient spells like a simple fireball. Ainz shook his head mentally, not that he blamed her but he would have to teach her how to act like a magic caster. He'd consider this a return for her tips on swordplay as Ainz didn't like being in debt to anyone.

"This is taking too long," Ainz finally said.

The undead mostly ignored them as the two Players, were themselves, undead. They were probably given a command to slay anything alive trying to cross the cemetery. Even if they'd stay on the path, being attacked only by minions when they got too close it was still time consuming.

"Almost out of charges for this wand and staff," Walkiria sent a fireball over to a group of undead approaching them.

"We'll have to speed things up," Ainz said, summoning two mid-level undead, [Jack the Ripper] and [Corpse Collector]. Aside from this Ainz also contacted Yuri Alpha to send someone to collect any potential goods dropped by the abductors. Speaking of which...

"You said along the way here you killed one of the perpetrators," Ainz asked Walkiria as they left the chaos caused by his two summons, "Did they happen to drop anything interesting?"

"Drop?" Walkiria chuckled, while some people in this world used terms from VRMMOs, there still some terms they didn't seem to get.

"That crazy blonde girl back in the shop had three stilettos on her that looked to be infused with magic."

She tossed the entire set to Ainz who began to analyze the items.

"If they really are infused with a spell," Ainz thought, "This could prove useful, there was nothing like this in Yggdrasil."

He looked at Walkiria who showed no interest in the items. Really?! Didn't they interest her one bit?!

"Well, if you don't want these..." He said, placing them in his [Item Box].

"Knock yourself out."

Ainz put his puzzlement at the back of his head as they came over the rise. Just like the image from the scroll earlier there was a group of people in dark robes surrounding a bald man holding an orb.

"Hello, a pleasant night for a stroll don't you think?" Ainz asked casually.

"What?! who are...you." The bald man's question died in his mouth when his eyes saw Walkiria standing next to Ainz.

"You there, the Copper Plate," He said cautiously, "Do you know what that thing is beside you?"

"Just my luck!" Khajiit lamented, "The night I am about to become an Undead and a vampire strong enough to beat Clementine decides to take up residence in the city!"

"I'm right here baldy..." The vampire said menacingly.

Khajiit could feel a monstrous wave of killing intent in his direction. Even his disciples, who weren't the target, trembled in fear as well.

"While my partner is admittedly somewhat disagreeable, she is also of great help towards my plans," The warrior stated calmly, "That said, let's get down to business. We're here for the boy. Surrender and we'll turn you over to the city watch."

The Adventurer suddenly vanished from Khajiit's view.

"Resist and die."

Khajiit and his disciples turned to see the black clad adventurer at the entrance of their lair.

"Not so fast baldy and company," The vampire said in a pleasant voice, "I believe you said something objectionable a while back."

"Attack you idiots!" Khajiit yelled in frustration at his disciples. Did he have to give every single command?

[Magic Arrow!][Fire Ball!][Spark!][Wind Spear!][Dark Bolt!][Rock Spike!][Flame Shot!]

The stream of spells raced towards the vampire...and dissipated harmlessly before making impact. The smoke was forcefully pushed aside by a pair of black wings by the vampire, showing it was unharmed from the barrage of spells that would force even a Mithril Plate Adventurer to reconsider their attack.

"Really, you guys should try harder," She said slowly walking towards them, "The last real fight I had was seven against one and it was way more busy than this."

"The hell does she mean by seven?!" Khajiit fumed inside his head. Just because he ran away from before and did not contribute in the barrage did not mean he was helpless! He was far more powerful than his disciples!

Before any one of them could so much as blink the vampire disappeared like her companion and appeared in front of the group having twisted the lead disciple's head so it was now facing them.

"Here's what it was really like."

The screams of Khajiit's disciples echoed into the night as they were sliced apart by the sharpened edges of wings or the bladed end of Walkiria's weapons.

* * *

~ Forest, unknown location ~

Kazuki watched impassively at the brutal interrogation that was happening to the vampire that they had encountered in the forest. The thing spat out curses but was otherwise suspiciously forthcoming with where it's owner's residence was. Some cave a little bit to the west of their current position.

As they were moving through the forest they were attacked by a wolves that looked to be made of shadow and smoke. They were dispatched easily by the Scripture, the group that he was currently traveling with. If that was the case, these things were even weaker than the Scripture. He couldn't tell what their levels were because they were people but he could get an estimate based on their attacks. It appeared they were, at the very least somewhere between level 50-70.

It was then that the vampire, a scantily dressed one at that, revealed itself. In a disappointingly short battle where Kazuki could do virtually nothing to participate it was beaten and then interrogated. Finally running out of questions the leader who used a spear, Kairon, ended the vampire's life.

"Let's move on." He said in his characteristically quiet way.

"Shouldn't we see what's really in that cave?" Kazuki asked.

He was, for lack of a better word, restless. Maybe this was the ideal excuse to escape. It was just a few nights but during the course of his travels, he knew that somehow _all this_ was real, and that he was in the body of his avatar. His senses were sharpened beyond the point of an ordinary human's and he overheard a lot of things in the nights he 'slept' at camp, which included basic directions since the scripture members discussed the various routes they would take to their objective.

Kazuki also overheard some suggestions to recruit him, especially from the blonde girl. Well, piss on that. Now that he was free he was going to do whatever he wanted. He did not like being restrained and he did not like being told what to do and now that he had a rough estimate of their strength he could easily wipe them out. Just like those low-level players in SAO and ANO. The only reason he hadn't done so yet was because of the sheer number of unknowns in this world.

"No, that isn't our problem," Kairon responded, turning to face him, "Let the local Adventurers deal with it."

The second he heard the word 'no' Kazuki had already begun to move. Cries of surprise and calls to return went unheeded as he ran through the forest with surprising speed. Once he was sure he couldn't be seen he moved faster than ever, a trait of his avatar's race. He'd fight this vampire boss of theirs and get a better feel of the world. Even if they did follow him, he could always fake being injured and be asked to be left at the nearest city. He used a similar tactic back in Aincrad, to lower the guard of some players or to simply pass by unbothered.

If they didn't leave him alone well...that was when a sword would mysteriously sprout from their backs.

* * *

~ E-Rantel Cemetery ~

"You damned monster." Khajiit growled as he saw what happened to his disciples. He didn't care about them, but the vampire and her friend were obviously planning to interfere with his plans.

 _Mommy, what's that on that girl's leg?***_

 _Shh! Don't go near her._

 _While the temporary school and its curriculum is indeed for students who were trapped in Sword Art Online, this court cannot grant your petition to enroll due to your unique circumstances in the previous decision. You are, however, permitted a private tutor should one be willing._

 _You thought it was just a game didn't you!_

 _You monster! My son is dead because of you!_

 _Sorry, our guild doesn't take in Red Players..._

 _Hey, its a red..._

 _Hey, its a red..._

 _Hey, its a red..._

 _Here?!_

"You know," The vampire crushed a skull under her boot, "I don't really like that word. And you're one to talk."

"W-wait," Khajiit tried, "If you're just looking for a food source, I'm part of an organization that can accommodate you! Definitely better than what that Adventurer is offering you!"

"What do I look like?" She crushed another body part in her way, "A vagabond?"

"Very well, I have no choice!" Khajiit said exasperatedly, "[Summon Skeletal Dragons!"]

Two dark shadows blotted out the moon's light as the creature descended onto the location.

The vampire dodged out of the way of a skeletal claw as the two summons moved protectively in front of Khajiit. He didn't want to do this but his survival was imperative. He'd summon two as a precautionary measure and when they were done, he would order them to go on a rampage in the city to collect [Negative Energy] and then he could continue the ritual in peace!

"Attack!" He ordered them. The two Skeletal Dragons moved as one and attacked. The vampire was able to dodge surprisingly well and was even able to turn a giant paw with just its hand. However, it was still against two massive creatures that did not tire and used every limb it had. Soon, the vampire was snagged by one of the dragon's mouths in mid-jump and was slammed into the ground. A giant paw then descended, crushing its prey underneath.

"HAHAHA!" He laughed, feeling the rush of power at his command, "Goodbye you monster!"

Suddenly the Skeletal Dragon's paw was flung into the air causing the summon to tumble down.

"Hey." Came a cold, angry voice.

"Huh?" Khajiit looked on dumbstruck. That was a direct hit!

"Shut."

Before he could blink the vampire was right in front of him. Its beauty in its human form was otherworldly, but its gaze was nothing remotely human.

"UP!"

Khajiit never felt the punch that reduced him to bloodied chunks that flew in the air.

 **-0-**

Narberal Gamma, one of the Pleiades, stood in the shadows observing the fight between the human and the other Player. Earlier on her master had requested that someone be sent over to his location to collect any items that might further bring him knowledge about this world. Having not much to do at the moment she had offered to be the one to go. Surprisingly her sister, Yuri Alpha, had given permission to go but asked her to inform Albedo out of respect for the hierarchy of authority.

Upon doing so, Albedo had given permission as well but added instructions to give her a full report of every detail she experienced, particularly about the behavior of the Supreme Being around the other Player. Seeing as this did not conflict with the order given by the master it was easy to do.

There was reverberating noise as the last Skeletal Dragon was brought low. With her inhuman hearing, Narberal had heard the bald insect order the summons to attack, even with the death of its summoner, the two creatures followed their last given order though it would prove futile. If this...Beta Player, really did perform acts Sebas-san described from his self indulgent question to her master, then two summons of this caliber would not be a problem. Even she could deal with all the enemies she had seen alone if she had to, but what did one really expect from inferiors?

Now that the fight, if it could even be called that, was over Narberal gave a grudging approval of how the insects were dealt with. Anything that stood in her master's way would either be destroyed of sent to Neuronist or Demiurge. It was time to move in and perform her mission.

Before she could get close, however, Narberal's rage boiled when she saw the player retrieve an orb from the bald one's corpse and stuff it in her item box.

How dare she?! That item belonged to her master!

Narberal continued to move forward, preparing to give the pretentious Player a lesson.

 **-0-**

"Well, that was a thing." Walkiria sighed, letting her emotions cool.

During her time both in and out of that guild base, Walkira had discovered that she could control her emotions far better than before. Should she choose she could submerge her feelings and let the predator that was her avatar back in life be at the forefront as it felt more natural this way. However, if she let her rage out, well... _that_ happened. On the bright side, Walkiria didn't lose control. She didn't plan to drink the old man's blood or any of his followers and the thought never crossed her mind in the fight. If anything, Walkiria wanted to get some practice in with her wings as weapons, seeing as the game merely considered it an attack animation that just stacked with her regular damage, the only thing was...they apparently couldn't be "turned off" like an ability, just hidden. The illusion that came with her costume set was broken the moment they were used or at least the part that hid her wings.

This aside, everything seemed be have gone smoothly, except for the dragons which continued to attack her after baldy was dead. She had to take one of those 3rd Class weapons out, a hammer, to beat them to death, roleplay be damned. Seriously, Ainz was the most paranoid person she'd met. A roleplay over a roleplay...- what was this?

She picked up an orb on the ground. It was smooth all over, like a black pearl with hints of purple inside.

 ** _Oh, so you are my new owner! Wait! What is this?! This power...and your bloodstained hands! Ehe, hehe, Hehehahaha! Finally! A being worthy to use me! Together my mistress we shall..._**

"What is this thing?" Walkiria wondered turning the orb over, "Eh, I'll look it over later. Maybe I can break it down for useful things. I hope the [Disassemble] feature still works." She opened up her item box and stuffed the orb inside.

 ** _What?! Wait mistress! Wait! No! N-_**

"Return that thing at once!" Came a cold voice behind Walkiria, "That item by right belongs to Ainz-sama!"

Walkiria turned to see a young woman dressed in a maid's outfit with pieces of armor in certain areas.

The Player resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Even in an alternate dimension the appeal for battle maids was alive and well. Some things never change.

"I suppose you work for Ainz?" Walkiria returned her look, "Well, look around. He's not here and he didn't do anything so this drop is mine."

"Everything in this world belongs to him!" Narberal snarled, "Return it now or face the consequences of disobeying his will." She produced her staff to show she meant business.

"You make a lot of assumptions in both statements," Walkiria said coolly, "I don't belong to any one and i don't for any one. So come take it you little porcelain doll." Her four wings spread out, casting an evil looking shadow in the moonlight.

"What's going on here?!" Came a voice. Ainz appeared, still in his Momon disguise, with Nfirea over his shoulder.

"A-Ainz-sama!" Narberal gasped as she bowed as low as could, "This creature has taken an item that rightfully belongs to you! I saw it as I prepared to carry out your order earlier to take any items of note."

Ainz sighed. This again?

"What was it?" He asked Walkiria who had lowered her wings.

"An orb that could summon two of those." She pointed to the remains of the Skeletal Dragons.

"Hmm...an item to summon Skeletal Dragons?" Ainz thought, "That's not very impressive. That Dominion Authority we fought could beat these two dragons easily."

This was because Skeletal Dragons could only use physical attacks and was resistant only to magic only to a certain Tier.

"Can I look at it later?" Ainz asked as politely as he could, "I want to see if its native to this world like those weapons you gave me."

"Sure, but I need something to break down for ingredients..." Walkiria responded.

"Ack! That's right! The [Item Exchange Box] and data crystals!" Ainz mentally smacked his own head, "With that I can get more items for Nazarick and maybe for myself!"

"A good plan," Ainz said out loud, "Maybe we do the experiment together after I Analyze the item to see the results?"

"Sure." She shrugged while Narberal looked extremely worried at this new development.

"Well, tonight was fairly productive," He declared, as the sun began to rise, "Let's head on back."

* * *

~ Cave, Bandit Lair ~

"Oh, come on! Its been two days!" Shalltear yawned, "How long is it going to take those Adventurers to get back to us!"

"Hey! Brian!" She turned towards her 'pet', "I'm serious here! When do you think they'll be back?"

The heap that was once Brain Ungulus, as always, did not answer nor make any movement, other than breathe.

"Damn, I think he's broke," Shalltear thought looking at the pathetic sight, "Those are never the fun types. Hmm?"

She turned once she sensed a familiar aura approaching the location.

Ah! It was that bitch that entered the Supreme One's domain! What was she doing here? Wasn't she supposed to be traveling with Ainz-sama?

Suddenly an idea hit Shalltear. Could it be? Did Ainz-sama banish her? Oho! That was rich! No! It was justice!

Shalltear cackled gleefully upon this realization. Whether she was kicked out by Ainz-sama or she had left meant one thing...she was no longer under the protection of her master! If she was kicked out it would be because she was unsatisfactory as a potential servant or if she left she was abandoning her duty! Both results demanded a punishment!

"Isn't that right Brian?" The only sound Brain continued to make was his breathing, despite this Shalltear was too happy to notice or care, "Right you are! I knew you'd come around pet!"

The Floor Guardian equipped her Split Lance and readied her armor to come out with a thought. With her undead senses she could hear humming coming from the corridor and it only excited her. Shalltear's prey clearly wasn't on guard, which was going to make what was coming next even sweeter!

 _~Iki wa yoi yoi, kaeri wa kowai_

 _Kowai nagara mo_

 _Tōryanse, tōryanse~_

The figure that stepped around the corner into Shalltear's makeshift throne room while continuing to hum the strange song...was not the Player Shalltear had seen on the first floor.

Instantly her caution shot up and she equipped her armor, bypassing her first from in favor of her most durable configuration. It was giving off the same aura as the Player from before. Something foul. Something wrong.

It was tall, almost scraping the ceiling of the cave. The thing's dead-blue skin was stretched taut around its body giving it an appearance similar to a mummy, but rather than an image of weakness, the muscle could clearly be seen. Its eyes were pitch-black pits with white pinpricks for the irises.

In its hand it gripped the head of one of her Vampire Brides in an almost careless manner. The Bride's head was twisted horribly and the body spasmed occasionally, indicating the swiftness of the attack. It stopped the tune when it saw Shalltear.

"Who the hell are you?!" Shalltear snarled, getting into a stance.

In response it smiled, revealing serrated teeth like that of a shark.

"Ah, hello," It crushed the Bride's head like an overripe fruit, "Are you lost?"

* * *

Author's note:

* Here I'm trying to imagine how a Vampire's biology would react to something like an intense nightmare. Basically rather than sweat or tears, which I'm not sure if they even have any, they will excrete one of the few liquids they do possess.

** of fear

*** Those legband tracking devices.

Whew! Man this was a long one. I had to split this in two since the sit deos not seem to accept more than 10k words. Its certainly longer than any chapter I've written. I've basically breezed through most of the end of the Vol. 2 as I promised to get to "The Bloody Valkyrie Arc" after this chapter. If you plan to review then tell me what you think of this style of pacing. Too fast? Too messy looking?

Now as to the second point with Ninya. While keeping her alive is certainly and option, you see I did, what an Asimov novel termed, a "Lifeplot" to determine Ninya's relevance in the story if she had live both in canon and this work. Needless to say there wouldn't be much of her in either other than a short mention or two like her sister. It seems like Maruyama-san primary purpose for characters like these are catalysts for the story, hence my decision in this work.

As to the ending, a lot will be explained in the next two chapters which will conclude this arc in the story. Be warned though, it will be more action-ey than talk.

Until next time.


	11. Chapter 11

Crumbling World Part 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Overlord or SAO

* * *

 _Therianthropes, one of the most ancient and enduring dark tales of humanity. They have as many names as the forms they assume. Werewolf, Skin Walker, Shapeshifter...All point to a single origin. A human. A human who has insulted the gods, partaken in deals with the Old Ones or performed a dark ritual. However, the earliest tales had a simpler explanation - Murder, of their fellow man._

 _\- ANO, Therianthrope Trailer_.

* * *

~ E-Rantel ~

"Hmmm, I was hoping we'd be promoted to a higher rank than this," Ainz mused out loud as he fingered the Mithril Plate than now hung on his neck.

"Aww, that's just greedy," Walkiria was lazily swinging a leg from her sitting position, "Its like getting the last hit from a boss and hoping to reach max level."

"Yeah, maybe," Ainz agreed, "At least we know the method works, and we can take higher ranked missions now."

"So, how was your first night out?" She asked looking at him, "Get to practice your swords skills like you wanted or were you distracted by a nice skeletal girl?"

"No such luck with the girl," Ainz laughed, "But that was a pretty good run, almost like a tutorial level. I think I'm going to need a sparring partner though, those undead weren't exactly able to fight back."

"Why not one of your NPCs?" Walkiria suggested absentmindedly, "I'm sure one of them is a DPS type."

"Yes, there are a couple that come to mind," Ainz said, "Maybe I should-[Yes, did something happen?]"

Ainz's reply was cut short when he received a communication via [Message].

"What?!" Ainz yelled as he stood straight up. Shalltear had been attacked by a Player and was currently engaged in combat with them now.

Walkiria gave him curious look, recognizing the signs that he was talking using [Message].

"[I'll be right there Albedo, tell her to hold out until then,]" Ainz, [Additionally, she may perform a running battle to further buy time.]"

There was a sound on door and it repeated again after a few seconds.

"I got it," Walkiria stood up to answer the door, "Yes?"

"Oh! Um, pardon me miss," A young man blushed as Walkiria opened the door, "I was sent by the Guild, there appears to be an emergency. They didn't tell me but from the ruckus it seemed to be about a vampire that made its lair in a cave somewhere in the forest."

Walkiria looked at Ainz who was standing, but was seemingly looking outside through window.

"We'll be right over." Ainz said, turning to him, "Please give us a few minutes to tidy up."

"So, what happened?" Walkiria asked after she closed the door, "Did one of your NPCs blow up a room experimenting or something?"

"Shalltear Bloodfallen, one of the Guardians I sent out, has encountered another player," Ainz said gravely, "I gave her orders to look for people native to this world who can use [Martial Arts], but instead she encountered another player and she is currently being pursued."

There was a part of the report that Ainz had left out, and that was the fact that Shalltear stated that the Player's aura felt like that of Walkiria's. This could simply mean that to Shalltear someone like Walkiria was an outsider or a Player simply not registered as friendly and as such it would be a baseless accusation. However, Ainz's paranoid mind had also thought that this might be some kind of inside job. If there were other players here, they would similarly like Ainz, try to find other players or infiltrate a group of players. There was also no shortage of players and guilds that hated Ainz Ooal Gown. It didn't seem too unreasonable that this person was someone who met before during an attack as Shalltear was the very first line of real defense for Nazarick.

Ainz cut off this line of thought. There were simply too many questions and not enough time to consider them. It was like watching branches grow from other branches at fast-forward. So Ainz settled for observing Walkiria's reaction to the news.

"Can't she just teleport out of there?" Walkiria asked, "Or doesn't she have an item or ability like that?"

"She does, but [Gate] can be interrupted when attacked remember?" Ainz said, finding no abnormal reaction from her, "Never mind the sheer number of spells or skills that can prevent it or worse."

"So she has no choice but to fight," Walkiria concluded, "How's her performance in a one-on-one?"

Ainz pondered a bit, picking out how phrase the answer without giving away too much of Shalltear's abilities.

"She's one of the strongest NPCs in Nazarick," He responded, with a bit of pride in his voice, "In terms of damage she could beat me in a slugging match. She is the one responsible for preventing most players from reaching farther down than the third floor, including those at lvl 100."

"I assume she has support from all those NPCs and other stuff in your base right?" She asked, seemingly not worried about how Shalltear could take on entire teams and win.

"Yes, of course," Ainz snorted, "You can't win with brute strength alone. Alright I've got ideas on what orders I should send out to Albedo. Let's see what this emergency at the Guild is and handle the things that are really _important_."

"So, did she say what sort of player she's dealing with if she can handle that many players at once?" Walkiria asked as they left the inn.

"She said it was some kind of blue humanoid heteromorph with elongated limbs," Ainz responded in a low voice so as not to be heard, "It also had a giant, two-handed sword with the fire and lightning elements."

Walkiria stopped in her tracks when she heard the description.

"Ah, shit."

* * *

~ Forest, Black Scripture ~

"Well, that's one way to get rid of him," Vardun stated.

"Shouldn't we help him?" Alyssa asked looking at the direction Kazuki ran off to.

The members of the Scripture were quite surprised when they lost track of the suspected godkin. They themselves were fast, and if it came down to numbers in terms of abilities, they were the best Scripture the Theocracy could field. However, they simply looked slow compared to how Kazuki moved a while ago.

Kairon took a moment to weigh his options. Despite being "sidetracked" a couple of times in their mission they were still on schedule. If they were behind then they might leave Kazuki to his fate, but then again it was not the case. Second, Kazuki was all but confirmed to be godkin by the displays of his abilities when he kept up with them, the fight with the Rock Griffs and now this display of speed that surpassed their own!

Kairon shook his head. It would be too much of a waste to allow a godkin as talented as Kazuki to be lost to them, whether he stood victorious or not over this vampire, he could disappear by virtue of being anonymous. True, the Theocracy could send its agents out to look for him but that would mean placing him in the general care of the administration. Though the Theocracy was very cohesive despite worshipping different gods, like any institution there would be internal rivalries. The acquisition of a godkin would normally end up in the Black Scripture but occasionally they would be assigned to other branches. There, it would be an unspoken rule that they would eventually take over as head of the Scripture after several years of service unless they declined the office or were deemed unfit for command. It was known only to a select few, but there were omens that in this generation there would be some world-upheaving event and thus the Black Scripture would need every godkin it could get its hands on to ensure humanity's survival and supremacy.

"We'll retrieve him," Kairon said, having come to his decision, "Whether he slays this vampire or not."

* * *

~ E-Rantel, Adventurer's Guild ~

Darkness was the last to enter into the Adventurer's Guild Meeting room which was already full by this time. Despite the brisk pace Ainz and Walkiria made towards the building it appeared they were the last to be informed. While there were numerous valid reasons that the newest Mithril-plate Adventurer team would be last to be requested to join an emergency meeting, Ainz was not in a very accommodating mood.

In fact when the Guildmaster, Pluton Ainzach, greeted "Momon" and "Kairi" warmly and bade them to sit, Ainz moved as he had on the streets - as fast as he could be without seeming to be in a hurry. It helped that his Warrior persona was fairly tall and thus took long strides.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice, Momon-san," Pluton said, "And Kairi-san as well."

"This is Theo Rakheshir, the head of the Magician Guild," The Guildmaster pointed to an individual who looked every inch the stereotypical mage.

"And this is the mayor of E-Rantel, Panasolei Rettenmaier" Pluton gestured towards a rotund man with a baby face.

"Greetings! And let me thank you on behalf of the citizens for resolving that earlier incident with the undead." The mayor said in nasally voice, much like most of the people in the room he was staring at Walkiria the second she had entered with Ainz.

Finally, Ainzach concluded by introducing the other Adventurers in the room. They were, like Darkness, all Mithril-plates and their team members were also ranked as such.

"May we know what this meeting is about?" Ainz asked. In his haste and worry for Shalltear he had taken the seat clearly meant for him but didn't wait until Ainzach offered Kairi a seat, as her appearance was unexpected since it was a call for the team leaders only.

"Wait a minute!" A rough voice said.

All eyes turned towards the voice, it was Iguvaruji, the leader of Kralga.

"This meeting is supposed to be for leaders only!" Iguvaruji declared, "What's she doing here?"

"I'm the rest of the team," Walkiria declared while lifting a chair easily and placing it beside Ainz, "Its not like this room is lacking any space and anything said here is just going to be repeated to the respective party members anyway."

"Don't be like that Iguvaruji," The leader of Rainbow, Moknach, chided, "Darkness is a two-man team, its really pointless to make Kairi-san wait outside. She does a have a point."

"And what _about_ Darkness?" Iguvaruji pointed out, "They're new! What do they know about _real_ Adventuring?!"

"They resolved that undead incident not too long ago," Bellote, the leader of Sky Wolf, said, "pretty good for rookies I'd say."

"They could have just gotten lucky!" Iguvaruji persisted, "We could have done that on our own!"

"Cutting through a horde of undead? Then defeating two Skeletal Dragons?" Moknach asked, "Finally, defeating members of Zuranon? Maybe, but it would have taken some time and there would've have been casualties."

"That's-!"

"Hey!" Kairi slammed her palm on the table which produced an audible sound. Had she really tried to, she would have smashed the table into pieces, but she had learned to measure her strength during her time in the New World.

"We were called here under the impression that there was an emergency, so what is it that isn't the whining of some nobody we've never met?"

Walkiria herself was not in a very accommodating mood. During the walk here upon discovering that she knew or might know who was attacking his NPC, Ainz bombarded her with rapid fire questions about the player. She suspected it was Kiros given the description, but she wasn't sure herself. In the end, with that caveat stated, Walkiria told him all she knew about him such as how he fought and what she thought were his weaknesses. Because of she anticipated fighting him and the others, Walkiria didn't have a hard counter build for any of them, but rather opted for a very specific build that could fight anyone but not truly dominate them, instead relying on stats and skill to beat them in a fight.

"N-nobody? Why you-"

"Ahem, the raising of Darkness to Mithril is indeed not the concern of this meeting," Ainzach said, "But rather of a threat that could pose a great danger to the city of E-Rantel."

"About two days ago, each on separate occasions, survivors from two different parties stumbled into E-Rantel half-dead," He began, "The first was raving about how a trio of vampires had wiped out his party. The leader of the vampires had a red dress on and a platinum hair."

"The second survivor merely mentioned a single female vampire," Ainzach continued, "However, its description matches the two servant vampires of the one with platinum hair."

"That sounds like Shalltear!" Ainz snapped out of his impatience, "Was is she doing out here?! Ah, crap! That's right! I instructed her to look for people who can do [Martial Arts], she must have stumbled her way here!"

"Finally, the other thing in common with these two stories is that the vampires declared that they will be taking the area as their territory, no doubt thinking they can secure a constant supply of food." Ainzach finished the tale.

"[Hey, should we take this job? You're in a hurry after all.]" Walkiria messaged Ainz.

"[Yes, we should! That sounds like Shalltear!]" Ainz responded back, "[She must have said that statement to lure in people who have [Martial Arts] and now that player that you know is attacking her!]"

Bits and pieces of the conversation happened in the background as the two Players conversed about the situation in their own way.

"We volunteer for the mission," Ainz said aloud, cutting into the conversation, "And we'll do it alone."

"What?! Who said you could just-!" Iguvaruji spluttered.

"But Momon-san!" Ainzach protested, "As we've discussed, its estimated that those servants of it are Iron-Plate level or beyond and the lead vampire is at least Platinum level!"

"Actually, I have something to say about _this_ vampire," Ainz emphasized the word, "The truth is, the reason I became an Adventurer was because I am chasing two vampires that have wreaked untold havoc not too long ago from my homeland. Since Adventurers hunt monsters, I thought I should go about the proper way of doing so rather than conflict with the established system."

"Che! A foreigner?! Figures." Iguvaruji muttered under his breath.

"You know this particular vampire then Momon-san?" Theo asked, "What is her name?"

"Her name is...uh." Ainz mumbled. Despite making up a story, or rather modifying the excuse he was going to give to avoid the "emergency" mission, Ainz couldn't think of a name. He never really expected that Shalltear would be the emergency.

"Arcueid," Walkiria said after a second.

"Didn't he say he was the one chasing the vampire?" Iguvaruji pressed, "How do you know its name?!"

"I work with him. He's _obsessed_ with hunting the vampire," Walkiria reminded him, "And unless you knew beforehand what the vampire is, you're liable to get the wrong idea about him."

"Actually, that obsession is unhealthy enough already," She said after a second passed.

Ainz shot her an annoyed glance. While he was grateful for her coming up with a name, he knew full well what she implied with "obsessed."

His gesture didn't go unnoticed by the people in the room, but because they misunderstood it, they took it to mean that Momon was truly driven to bring the vampires to justice.

"Hmph! Obsessed you say?" Iguvaruji spoke up again, "Because you've been hunting it, it settled down here. You're the cause of the trouble! You don't deserve to be an Adventurer!"

"The vampires' mindset is not like that of a human's," Ainz responded in a voice that was calm compared to Iguvaruji's heated tone.

"It does not feel for humans and their actions would cause untold suffering amongst people. No decent human would stand by and let it happen, Adventurer or not."

Everyone in the room, except Iguvaruji whose face reddened with stubbornness, nodded in agreement at Ainz's statement. Only a truly heartless person would allow such atrocities to continue. If for example, an undead had taken up residence in E-Rantel and usurped the leadership, people would not simply stand by and let it happen. Even if the creature's rule was absolute, there would be small rebellions such as not following orders too small to be noticed, or the residents could simply flee and leave the creature with nobody to rule over.

"Besides, didn't he say it was running from us?" Walkiria added, "That means when we catch them its not going to end well for them. Or do you hear only the parts you want to hear, hmm? That is so sad."

"That still doesn't-" Igurvaruji was about to speak again when he was cut off.

"That's enough Iguvaruji!" Moknach scolded him, "We're here to discuss on how to deal with this situation. While those two groups were unfortunate, at least they gave us a warning before the situation could escalate into an attack on the populace."

"If you cannot be professional, then I suggest you leave." He finished.

Iguvaruji quieted down once he saw Bellote and the others nod in agreement. He knew that if he left now it would be clear he was kicked out of the meeting and his reputation would suffer, but made his feelings clear by glaring at the two foreign Adventurers.

"Now, then back to the topic on hand," Ainzach said, "It is agreed that this creature is too dangerous to take on alone, so we will formulate a plan to flush it out and destroy it."

"We can take it on ourselves," Ainz repeated firmly, "In the event that it has been concealing its true strength until now, we have a trump card - A magic crystal with sealed magic of the 7th Tier."

"What?!" Everyone turned to the shocked Rakheshir, "7th Tier Magic is within the realm of the gods! Mythological!"

"Check it if you want," Ainz said, "But as I said time is of the essence."

"[Appraise Magic Item]" Theo Rakheshir cast the appropriate spell to determine the truth of the claim.

A moment passed, as the people in the room waited with their breath held.

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHH!"

A strange change came over the Magic Caster after this. Sweat seemed to literally pour out of his pores. His body shook uncontrollably as if hit by a [Spark] spell, while his eyes bulged out of their sockets.

"Where?! Where did you get this?!" He turned to face Ainz with a maniacal look that unnerved even the Player.

"Does it matter?" Walkiria said boredly, "We're going to use it if things look bad so it'll vanish."

"What?!" Theo stamped his foot like a spoiled child, "This is unacceptable! You, as a student of the Magic Arts, should recognize the value of this-".

"I've used better stuff than that," Walkiria rolled her eyes, "But that one time was an accident though-"

"EEeAEARYAFHAAAAA!" Theo's unintelligible anguished scream shook the windows.

"Well, Theo is it really sealed 7th Tier magic?" Ainzach tried to reassert control over the proceedings.

"YES! At the very least!" His friend answered in his now crazed manner, "It could even be higher! I could only tell it was beyond the 7th Tier!"

"Well, then that settles it," Ainzach cut him off, "We will now discuss how to best vanquish the vampire."

"No!" Everyone turned to see Theo had adopted a stubborn stance, "That item is too valuable to be used on a mere vampire!"

A solid thud on the table on the table cut the argument short.

All turned to see Momon's armored hand on the surface.

"I apologize if this is too forceful," He began, "But time is running out. I will hunt the vampire with or without the blessing of the Guild before she manages to cause another calamity."

"B-but!"

"That's enough Theo! Control yourself!" Ainzach gently admonished his friend as he turned to Momon, "We have recognized the danger since the beginning Momon-san, so all that is left is for us to decide on the compensation."

"We can discuss the compensation later," Ainz said as politely as he could, but he getting impatient as almost two hours had passed since Albedo's [Message], "We could even forego it entirely, however, we will settle for being officially declared an Adamantite Plate."

"Like hell you will!" Iguvaruji couldn't hold himself back anymore and involuntarily spoke out loud.

"I am tired of having to prove my strength," Ainz said as if the outburst hadn't occurred, "As an Adamantite Adventurer I will be able to continue the hunt unimpeded. I will, of course, help society out as much as I can in between these times."

"Hmmm, that sounds fair enough," Ainzach stroked his chin, "What do you all say?"

The figures at the table were staring at the Crystal that belonged to myths and Rakheshir's crazed behavior was more than enough to convince them of its authenticity. They nodded slowly in agreement. A new Adamantite Plate team would bring many residual benefits to the town of E-Rantel.

All agreed unconditionally, except one.

"We will accompany him as back-up!" Iguvaruji declared, "This is my condition for my agreement."

Before Bellote could say that one voice of dissent meant nothing against the majority Momon spoke up.

"Are you sure of this?" The black clad Adventurer asked, "To accompany us means certain death."

"Hpmh! Just worry about your little vampire." Iguvaruji lifted his chin, "We'll provide support."

As the two teams traveled the site Iguvaruji had used the time to gather his party to brief them on his plan. Once the members of Darkness and the Vampire were sufficiently weakened he would swoop in and eliminate both and return triumphant to claim the Adamantite plate he so deserved. No one in E-Rantel deserved it more than him! Not those other Mithril Plates and certainly not these foreign upstarts.

In the meantime Ainz had received an update from Albedo regarding the situation. As per his earlier instructions she had dispatched several POP monsters and even a whole troop of Eight Edge Assassins to assist Shalltear. Nigredo was summoned to the throne room while Demiurge and the twins were to remain on standby to observe the situation. As for Albedo, she was to join Ainz along with Cocytus for battle.

There were several things lacking with the plan. Ainz knew this was reckless, there were a myriad of ways to solve it such as letting Shalltear gather as much info before letting her fall and then reviving her. It might even be a productive test of that feature, being better aware of any complications of revival now rather than later.

He didn't care about any of that.

One of the reminders of his closest friends was in danger. She was all but Peroroncino's daughter and Ainz wasn't going to stand by and let this happen!

While a lot of factors were unknown he was confident he could at least give them a whipping. He had the numbers as well as information as to how the opponent might fight. Speaking of which.

Ainz glanced over to Walkiria who easily kept up with his brisk pace with her mount. She was surprisingly forthcoming with information regarding this Player's strengths and weakness. Maybe she wasn't lying when she said she felt no ties towards her informal group. Would she sell him out too in the future? She did plan to travel after all. Maybe she might meet other Players.

Ainz mentally filed this thought for later.

"[Hey, those guys are just going to get in the way]," Ainz messaged her, "[And even if they don't, I can't have them reporting back that Shalltear is connected to me."]

"[And soooo...?"] Walkiria drew out her question.

"[We'll need to get rid of them,]" Ainz filled in, "[Can I count on you to help? We're in a hurry. I'd teleport us there if I could.]"

"[There's a limit to how much I'm going to help you Ainz,]" She replied, "[What did they ever do to me?]"

"[They're trouble and you know it,]" Ainz said, "[They were practically itching for a fight back in the Guild even if we've never met them.]"

Walkiria thought about it for a few seconds, as she rode along towards their destination. She still held on to her rules about avoiding any unnecessary trouble and these guys technically did nothing to her. On the other hand, you'd have to be the most naive person in the world to think that they weren't assholes of a considerable caliber. They might not have known it but she saw some of the looks they gave her and Ainz along for the entire ride. They were planning something.

While she was content to let it play out, knowing that she greatly exceeded their strength, Walkiria was no stranger to preemptive strikes, having done them before to people who she thought were of a higher level than her back in SAO.

"[Alright, fine.]"

"[Umu, Albedo and Cocytus will meet us soon, along with any spare POP summons they brought.]"

Were they of equal levels that was probably overkill, but Walkiria had a feeling that they were going to get stomped hard. Aside from Ainz and his Guardians, the only thing such low level summons could possibly achieve was to distract them. As for the level 100s of Nazarick, they might do some damage but she wasn't counting on it. Forty levels was simply too big a difference in the type of games they came from, even if they weren't the same. Still, this would be a good way to observe how well max level ANO players did against their counterparts of Yggdrasil. For all she knew the transition would have interpreted their levels as maximum and treated them accordingly. Only time would tell.

~ Forest clearing ~

"Back! Back you monsters or she gets it!" Iguvaruji yelled, he tightened his hold on Kairi to emphasize his point.

His mind spun at how things went wrong so quickly. One moment they were riding towards their intended target then the upstart Momon got down from his horse. As the group followed him by the wayside they were surrounded by creatures of all types. Before any of them could blink, his entire team was dead. Since he was in the center Iguvaruji was not immediately targeted but escape was looking to be impossible so he seized Momon's partner in the confusion, planning to use her as a bargaining chip.

"I warned you did I not?" Momon said, eerily calm after the butchery of his men, "To come with us is certain death."

"Shut up freak!" Iguvaruji yelled, "Here's what's going to happen, you let me go and-"

There was a dull thump before Kairi moved away from him to stand in front of Ainz. Two wings with wicked looking tips had popped out from underneath her cloak, clearly marking her as non-human as well.

"Wha-" Before he could say anymore blood gushed out from the stumps that used to be Iguvaruji's arms.

He opened his mouth to scream but before he could do so Kairi's wing slashed at him, cutting the Adventurer clean in half.

"Now that that's done," Ainz reverted back to his original form, "Let's go. Transport their bodies to Nazarick for experimentation. Albedo, did you do as I asked?"

"Yes, Ainz-sama," The black clad Overseer bowed lightly, "We sent Shalltear reinforcements, and Nigredo and Demiurge are on standby to observe."

"And you Cocytus?" Ainz inquired as he activated several buff spells in succession.

"My. Weapons. Are. All. Equipped." The giant blue insect responded, "I. Am. Ready. To. Bring. Death. To. Nazarick's. Enemies."

"Umu," Ainz nodded absentmindedly as he consumed an item to restore his MP lost from the debuff spells, "They should be over this hill."

Indeed, sounds of fighting could be heard nearby. Ainz could even hear Shalltear's voice though he was still too far away to make out any of the words. He began to pick up his pace before he found himself restrained.

Ainz turned to see Walkiria holding him by the arm, her expression unreadable as always.

"You dare lay hands on my-" Albedo screeched.

"Stop it Albedo," Ainz said impatiently, "What is it now Walkiria-san? We have to hurry!"

"I don't think you should fight this time," She said, "Either get your toy out or leave her, just not fight."

"You doubt my master's ability to win?" Albedo snorted, "He used to hunt gods on his own!"

"A. Peerless. Warrior. And. Strategist." Cocytus agreed.

"Thank you for your... _concern_ ," Ainz said turning towards the direction of the fighting once more, "But this cannot go unanswered. Besides with the information you gave, I believe we can neutralize this Player. Cocytus has silver weapons, and I can imbue either Albedo or Shalltear with the [Silver] attribute as well as other enhancements."

"Have you won every fight you came across?" Walkiria asked, "Last chance."

Albedo gnashed her teeth and slowly began to raise her weapon.

"Those that count." Ainz said, his eyes blazing.

Something flew through the air and landed in front of the group. It was a demon's head, one of the POP spawns from Nazarick, its bloodied face locked in a rictus of agony. The head slowly began to dissolve into black smoke, while melting the patch of ground it landed in with a hiss.

"Well, don't say I didn't warn you." Walkiria sighed as she walked towards the noise.

Author's note:

Part 2 is direct continuation, because once again, its a very long chapter.


	12. Chapter 12

Crumbling World Part 2

I do not own Overlord or SAO

* * *

~ Forest Clearing ~

"Arrgh! You useless pieces of shit!" Shalltear screamed in frustration as she cast [Regeneration] on herself for what seemed to be the nth time.

Albedo had messaged her that she being sent reinforcements, seeing as she couldn't deal with this insect herself. Shalltear ground her teeth in frustration as she was forced to accept the help. This Player...she had never encountered his kind before. It was a bitter pill to swallow but she doubted she could even beat it even with the buffs Nazarick's floors provided to the Floor Guardians.

With this traitorous thought, she shifted her tactics and ordered the POPs to swarm him. Previous engagements with Players had her ordering the summons to swarm them. Even if they could not damage the enemy in any serious manner their bodies would at least slow them down allowing her to attack them with a powerful move. That was not the case here.

With a lazy swing the Player cleaved through several NPCs, leaving only a bloody smear on the ground or ashes as the giant sword, with its fire and lightning attributes, vaporized them. One burly demon type spawn leaped towards him from the side, his serrated axe raised high to deliver a skull splitting blow. Before he could even reach the apex of his wind-up he was caught in the face by the Player's clawed feet and slammed down with a bone-crunching snap.

"So..." The Player's voice was raspy, as if it hadn't been used in a long time, "Done healing yet? There's still more I want to test out. Help a guy out will you?"

Shalltear bit her lip. _He was toying with her!_

The two remaining survivors of the Nazarick reinforcements attempted another attack.

Balancing itself on one foot the Player grabbed the first NPC, crushing its chest while using its articulate feet to catch the second. It flipped itself backward gracefully, tossing the two over its head, but before the bodies could get very far they were caught by the giant blade and slammed back into the ground.

As her mind raced about what move she should do next, she felt dread come over her.

"No..." She whispered with fear as she turned, "Please no..."

Emerging from the clearing was none other than the leader of the Supreme Beings.

Ainz Ooal Gown.

Albedo walked by his right side haughtily, enjoying the position of honor, while to his left Cocytus' hands twitched, ready to summon his weapons at a moment's notice. And to his rear was the accursed outsider, the other Player who radiated the same aura as the one who had attacked her.

Tears welled up in Shalltear's eyes as she knew there was no way to cover up her uselessness now. Not only had she failed to defeat this foe, she had forced her master to intervene on her behalf.

Without a word Ainz walked forward.

"Ainz-sama..." Shalltear's pained whimper escaped her mouth involuntarily as he passed her. She fought back tears as her master deigned to give her battered form a look before focusing on the threat.

"Under normal circumstances I would-" Ainz began but the Player cut him off.

"Hey Ri!" The friendly tone contrasted sharply with the Player's raspy voice, "So you're here too huh? Pretty weird what happened. I thought they pushed back the shutdown, but there's way too many stuff that doesn't add-"

"You bastard!" Ainz yelled.

Initially he was surprised at being interrupted but his anger had quickly overtaken his shock. Peroroncino was one of his closest friends, and they spent many hours talking to each other despite their age differences. Shalltear was a living reminder of this friendship and how much Ainz missed not just Peroroncino but all of his friends and now this player thought that he could just attack her without fear of retribution.

Despite the fact that many griefs could be laid at the base of the guild, Ainz Ooal Gown, the members looked after each other like family and mercilessly PKed even those who sought revenge for their own friend's PK. And this policy would apply even now.

"First you attack one of my subordinates, then you don't even bother to apologize or even- " The Undead part of his brain told Ainz he was shooting his mouth off again and that none of what he was saying was coherent but an attack on his friends was his sore spot.

"How dare you!" He continued to rage, even as the Player in front of him scratched his head in confusion, "She is like the-"

"DON'T. SAY IT. AINZ!" Walkiria yelled out exasperatedly. She had a feeling of what he was going to say next and honestly she was tired of hearing another variation of that line.

"-the child of my friend!" Ainz finished.

"Argh! Seriously?! Now?!" Walkiria clutched her head as if in pain, "You're a real piece of work, you know that Ainz?!"

"I don't need you starting right now about-!" Ainz turned angrily to confront Walkiria but then heard a cough.

"Excuse me."

Ainz turned back and was shocked to find the player standing directly in front of him.

"I was talking to Ri over there..."

Kiros swiftly stabbed an obsidian blade into the red orb of Ainz's stomach, and then his world exploded with pain.

"A-A-AINZ-SAMA!" Albedo screamed in anguish as she rushed forward in a blind rage, Ginnungagap raised high to strike her beloved's assailant.

The Overseer of Nazarick was joined almost immediately by Shalltear and Cocytus, both of whom had also lost reason upon witnessing an attack on the last Supreme Being.

"Whoa!" Kiros exclaimed in surprise, though there was still a hint of playfulness in his voice, as he leapt back to avoid the attacks.

He was using [Flash Step], a variant of the [Dodge] skill to avoid the enraged swings of Albedo. Though it cost some MP points, they were negligible since he was at max level. The skill itself was being used by almost everyone in ANO since it was a cheap alternative to the more costly evasive maneuvers.

"Rahg! Earggh!" Albedo's screams were unintelligible as she swung wildly at him.

Though her form was perfect in that every strike would have been fatal upon contact to a non-player by virtue of being created a NPC, it lacked technique. And in a game such as ANO where skill was in much greater demand than most games, at least in its beta-stage, the straightforward attacks played right into Kairos' strength.

After a wind-up of Ginnungagap, Kairos struck the head of the axe just after it left its apex and diverted it to a different direction. The axe-head crashed into the ground leaving a small crater before it was lifted for another assault. Having transformed for the first time since coming into this world, Kairos had used the time in pursuing Shalltear to train and see what he could really do.

So far, it seemed all of his character's abilities were present, with their activation somewhere between thought and feeling. It was not muscle memory but like a thought in the mind that defied verbalization. Next was his ability to parry attacks. While there was an auto-parry feature in the game, it was really intended as a crutch for new players as the moves soon became predictable. As soon as they had grown accustomed to the system beta testers, all of whom were veteran video gamers, quickly switched to the manual parry and swiftly found a deeper game mechanic.

Another downward swing from Albedo brought the weapon crashing into the ground. There was a blur of motion and Shalltear quickly stabbed her lance towards Kiros. Grinning with his shark-like teeth Kiros parried the attack so that the lance and its user was brought between the axe. Despite her red-misted vision Albedo still recognized Shalltear and momentarily halted her attack.

"Hahaha!" Kiros laughed gleefully.

This was great! Were this a game, the weapons would not have locked into each other and the NPCs would press their attack. Rather than friendly fire, unlike players, the NPCs would simply push each other out of the way gently as they continued their assault. Now, however, it seemed they were subject how such a situation would play out in the world.

Not being able come up with another test, Kiros decided to counter-attack. Imbuing his attacks with [Blast] which would knock away opponents he struck at Albedo first. The Floor Guardian was able to block the attack but was flung away. A horizontal sweep likewise sent Shalltear tumbling into the air.

Such a basic attack wouldn't do too much damage even to a level 100 NPC or player but it was still noticeable. And if he had to, he could defeat them one-on-one with just basic attacks.

Now a giant blue form stepped in front of him. Cocytus brandished four of his most prized weapons and radiated a crippling cold in his very presence. Though it was unseen, while the ability was designed to slow opponents, Kiros' passive defenses and level difference negated the ability of the ant-mantis hybrid NPC.

"Face. Justice. Miscreant!" Cocytus snarled.

"Pass." Kiros shrugged.

The blue warrior of Nazarick charged, opening with [Rush], an move that propelled the user forward while dealing weapon damage. In Cocytus' case the attack was raised to almost four hundred percent due to the four extra limbs he sported. In his hands he wielded the very weapons his creator made and designed specifically for him. The weapons were of varying types, ranging from a lightning katana to a ghostly blade. Each weapon was masterfully crafted, designed to break either magic casters, whom Warrior Takemikazuchi disliked, or warriors who dueled his creation.

Cocytus moved in blur, his hands imperceptible to all humans. Steam exited his mouth as he fought with righteous fury and unbreakable purpose. Not just because a Supreme Being, the last remaining god, was watching but also because of the _affront_ his master suffered because of his laxity his duties.

In contrast his opponent fought leisurely, parrying his attacks and seemed to be content observing him. When seen side-by-side in this manner with Cocytus, Kiros' attacks lacked the fighter's grace his enemy employed. Rather, the Player used large and powerful swings, often timing them to parry and block two attacks at the same time, capitalizing on his weapon's size and reach.

Realizing this technique, Cocytus use [Alpha Strike] and all four of his arms attacked simultaneously. Kiros saw the attack coming and with a reverse diagonal slash parried the attack, unbalancing Cocytus. With the attack parried, Kiros now used the chance to take a massive swing at him. The [Pummel] skill was activated and as soon as the giant blade connected with a timely block from Cocytus the immediate area around the two combatants exploded.

The ground flash burned while a sphere of bright red-orange expanded outwards. The skill [Eruption] was activated by chance on Kiros' giant blade. Though his weapon both shared the fire and lightning elemental damage, the player had focused more on the fire aspect in upgrades. This gave the weapon its primary attribute of fire while retaining some benefits of the lightning element.

When the smoked cleared, Cocytus was on his knees as he struggled to rise. [Armor Layer] had spared him a humiliating death.

"Hehehe, thought that fire would be your weakness," Kiros chuckled, "I mean, its quite obvious with all the ice on you. Whoever made you should have been less obvious."

"I. Was. Made. By. A. Supreme. Being." Cocytus rose painfully, "One. Who. Is. Above. You."

"And you're a perfect picture of what would happen if we tangled," Kiros laughed scornfully, "I think some people actually did think they were gods or at least acted like it."

"Like that ass back in _Nocturne_ ," Kiros turned, "Ain't that right Ri?"

Walkiria didn't reply and was instead looking at Ainz flopping painfully on the ground. The Lich had never felt this sort pain before, not once ever since coming into this world and certainly not in real life. Never mind the fact that whatever force that brought them here had simply struggled to interpret the foreign mechanics of "gameplay" that the ANO players had brought with them into the transition. And so the "Transition", finding no other way to interpret the attack, simply listed it as damage and that translated to the pain Ainz was feeling at the moment.

"Ah, hell Ri," Kiros sighed, "You had your chance, he's mi-"

"RAAAAAAAAAAGRG!" Albedo swung violently with skill imbued strike, having recovered from being ignominiously blasted away.

"[Holy Spear]!" Shalltear flung a blue, arrow shaped energy projectile at Kiros while he was distracted by Albedo's frenzied attacks.

Hope surged in Shalltear as the projectile hit, causing the Player to hesitate. Albedo's strike connected with his shoulder guard and managed to cause him to stumble. However, he quickly righted himself before dealing a vicious strike on his own which Albedo blocked.

"Damn, [Weapon Break] isn't working," Kiros thought, after he had activated the skill and counterattacked, "Gonna have to be the traditional way huh?"

"AHGHH! My love! what have you done to my love you shit!" Albedo continued to scream incoherently and she prepared another attack.

"Oh no, a player with an NPC girlfriend," Kiros said sadly, "That's just pathetic."

"I know, you're not really a person and all," Kiros continued as he evaded the attacks, "But too much anger will give you a heart attack."

A strike whizzed by above his head as he ducked. He could also feel that the one in red armor was approaching him for melee. The player decided it was time.

"So why don't you-," Kiros activated his skill [Brutal Wave], "SIT DOWN!"

Several blows struck Albedo, and while she was able to block some of them, most connected and forced her onto her knees. A lance strike from Shalltear rushed towards his head but he had activated [Mist Step], an ability unique to his class and so not only avoided it but also appeared behind Albedo.

"[Fatality]"

Just as the name implied, it was an attack that dealt a mortal blow to opponents. Though it usually resulted in instant death, there were several high rank skills that prevented it from happening. Still, the damage was was still high and the ability found some use among players.

Three savage strikes rocked Albedo side to side, while the fourth ended with a violent smash to her head.

The Overseer was flung away, parts of her armor missing, including her helmet*. A golden eye glowed with rage as it peeked out from the damaged section.

"HYAAA!" Shalltear attacked once more only for the lance to grabbed from the side.

The Floor Guardian froze. This never happened before! In fact it seemed outright impossible!**

"Testing," Kiros smiled.

In one swift move he chopped up Shalltear's arm. Again. This time it was the arm that held her weapon.

"Give it back!" Shalltear yelled as she was separated from the weapon bestowed on her Peroroncino.

"Well, well," Kiros laughed petulantly, "Look who just ran out of options."

There was a bright glow behind Kiros and he turned to look back.

The last thing he saw was a sphere of intricate symbols spinning rapidly, then a pillar of light and then - pain.

In the aftermath of the Super-Tier spell, Ainz Ooal Gown stood straight, his eyes glowing with anger at the player who dared harm his subordinates. Walkiria stood beside him, wearing an annoyed expression.

"Ainz-sama!" The Floor Guardians rushed to his side. Even Cocytus, who had by now healed himself.

* * *

~ Battlefield, Ainz Ooal Gown ~

Ainz writhed in pain on the ground. Whatever he was hit with had bypassed the buffs he had cast earlier. It must have been something he missed. But what was this?!

Aside from a level of pain he had never experienced in this world or that of real life, he had trouble moving. He looked down at his stomach area to see a dark, twisted dagger embedded in the orb that was supposed to be his belly. The dagger flashed and he felt another surge of mild pain.

His gaze fell upon his fellow player who stood this entire time, watching him with a cold expression he had come to recognize whenever she disapproved of something he did.

Sounds of battle diverted his gaze and he saw that his subordinates were in peril. Not only did they seem outmatched individually, they each tried to engage the enemy player in their own way. Albedo was swinging wildly while using the occasional offensive skill. Shalltear was using physical attacks primarily banking on the Split Lance's ability drain HP as she was understandably low on MP at this point. As for Cocytus, Ainz had seen him try to engage the enemy one on one and paid for it when he was hit by a flame attack, his elemental weakness.

With his veteran's eye, Ainz concluded that the reason they were doing so poorly was the lack of coordination in their attacks. Albedo should have contained the threat with her defensive abilities while Cocytus and Shalltear would press the attack, giving the enemy little time to counter-attack. Ideally Ainz himself would have been casting offensive magic from the rear. Walkiria-san could- wait...why wasn't she doing anything?!

Ainz looked back to find her still looking at him with that infuriating look. Finally, she shook her head sadly, and if Ainz could still sweat he would have extruded an embarrassing amount.

"Stupid." She whispered as she reached into her item box.

Ainz struggled to free himself. Her dislike of him was obvious after a while. Whether or not this was inside job didn't matter as she would clearly attack him now, while the guardians were distracted. How could he have let his guard down in a strange situation such as this?!

However, rather than her familiar scythe Walkiria pulled out a semi-opaque crystal. Inside Ainz could see a humanoid figure with four wings buzzing around frantically, seeking a way out.

Walkiria leaned down and removed the dagger stuck in Ainz and instantly, though still weak, he found he could move again. She then crushed the crystal and a tortured scream could be heard. Blood-red orbs floated towards Ainz and he suddenly felt rejuvenated, empowered even.

"I-uh, thanks, Walkiria-san," Ainz mumbled, still surprised that she helped him despite all indicators.

"Ready to listen now Ainz?" She asked, "Or maybe you didn't get hit hard enough? Go back now."

"Its too late for that!" Ainz responded, "We're committed now, and there's four of us against one."

A cry arose from one of the Floor Guardians as they were on the receiving end of an attack from Kiros.

"It could be five against one," Ainz tried to convince her, "Help us in this and I'll pay you back somehow."

"Hmm," Walkiria made a show of thinking about it, "No. Let the kids have a day out. Get some experience from all of this. We should leave. Now."

Ainz looked at her in disbelief, before shaking it off. "I'm not leaving them. They could get killed! The revive system might not work here!"

"Pffft, no revives? Sounds disgustingly familiar." Walkiria mumbled.

Finally accepting that she wouldn't help, Ainz moved past her and looked at his repertoire of spells and skills. And then he knew which one to use specifically. But before that-

[Epiphany!]

Ainz wasn't the most powerful magic caster in the guild. Whether it was offensive magic or support, the title fell on other members. When he started playing, Ainz was in no way prepared for several of the game's mechanics, both spoken and not, such as there was virtually no guide to be had. Thinking it was similar to games of the past, he had built his character for PVE, which while great against mobs, still relied heavily on support from other character classes and simply could not match their single target damage potential or support role.

However, through research and keen observation Ainz was able to win a surprising amount of PVP matches. This spell, [Epiphany], boosted his magic damage to surpass that of his friend, Ulbert, in terms of Magic Attack. Next was the super-tier spell:

[Final Verse!]

The spell, already causing damage beyond most players to endure, would be boosted to a fatal degree.

However, it did not stop there. The length of cast time meant it was unfeasible to use such a spell in this type of combat and so Ainz took out one of the many items he had spent his salary on.

A Cash Item.

Specifically, one that would cut the cast time to almost zero.

And so, within a span of a few seconds, the super-tier spell [Final Verse] was unleashed in the New World.

* * *

~ Throne Room, Nazarick ~

The rapid beating of Demiurge's heart slowed down to more manageable levels. When he was first summoned by Ainz, he had literally dropped the experiment he was working on and rushed towards the throne room, stopping only to collect Nigredo and Titus along the way, per his master's orders.

Once there and discovering that Mare and Aura were on standby, Demiurge proceeded to telepathically order all disposable troops to aid Shalltear in her fight against the enemy. Once the [Gate] he had opened closed, Demiurge then proceeded with the rest of the orders. First, Nigredo, a creation of Tabula-sama was to use her unrivaled divination skills to observe the battle. Next, Titus was to observe, along with Demiurge, the battle as it had progressed in order to determine if there was some record of the enemy they fought and their affiliation, if any, to known opponents of the Guild.

So far as the battle progressed Demiurge had to resist the urge to be at his master's side when he had fallen to an base underhanded attack and judging from the way Mare and Aura fidgeted they felt the same way as well.

"I apologize Demiurge-san," Titus also could not take his head away from the images Nigredo was showing before them, "There is no mention of an opponent such as this in the archives of the Supreme Ones."

Demiurge furrowed his brows, finding it difficult to accept that the Supreme Beings did not encounter a Player such as this.

"However," Nigredo cut in, "His aura is the same as that of our master's guest."

"Another Beta-Player?" Demiurge thought with surprise. Given how the Supreme One had explained the nature of Nazarick's guest, the Floor Guardian surmised that they were powerful but left players alone most of the time because of their duties to Yggdrasil's world. Why was one attacking them now?

As the battle wore on, Demiurge began to feel some sympathetic frustration for his fellow Guardians as their attacks seemed to have little effect on the enemy Beta-Player despite throwing more and more powerful attacks each time.

Then in a move befitting their mysterious nature as described by Ainz, Walkiria, produced an item that healed his master without suffering any of the negative effects of healing an Undead. Once rejuvenated, Ainz proceeded to cast two spells in succession. One of which was a super-tier spell, a spell that transcended the 10th Tier in terms of damage but had an extremely long cast time. And yet, Ainz Ooal Gown had somehow managed to bypass this limitation and cast it immediately***.

As a blinding white light engulfed a large area, with enemy player in the center of it all, Demiurge breathed a sigh of relief. Once again, the strength and cunning of the Supreme Beings prevailed against greater odds. The Floor Guardians, battered but alive, rushed to the side of their master. Albedo in particular looked like she was about to gloat at her master's victory to Walkiria.

"Sasuga Ainz-sama," He whispered, with a smile.

"Hmm?" He turned to find the Overseer's sister still staring intensely at the image, "Is something wrong Nigredo? Ainz-sama is not hurt too much is? he!"

"Something...is coming." Nigredo mumbled as she continued to observe the scene in front of her.

* * *

~ Forest clearing, Ainz Ooal Gown ~

"That was wonderful Ainz-sama!" Albedo gushed.

"A. Feat. Worthy. Of. Legends." Cocytus added.

"As expected Ainz-sama," Shalltear said humbly, still feeling down at having botched her mission.

"Enough of that!" Walkiria snapped, "Get this pile of bones back to Nazarick while there's still time."

"Why? Even you Beta's are no where near my beloved in terms of power," Albedo crowed haughtily, "What else could possibly threaten him?"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Impossible!" Ainz thought with panic, "That super-tier spell should have killed him! He was fighting Shalltear for two hours!"

"HAHAHAHA! First real 'damage' I suffered since coming here." came a voice from the diminishing sphere of light, "Alright, I think that's enough for now."

The ground cracked as a monstrous foot stepped out.

Gone was the blue skin of Kiros. In its place was a dark, navy blue tone that was partially covered by matted fur. His armor that had covered only part of his form had expanded to accommodate the added bulk and now fit him perfectly. His arms had thickened to the size of a grown man and ended with elongated claws that was abominable mix of both human and creature. Lastly, two angry red orbs glowed in the thickened skull of a hybrid between human and wolf.

The thing charged, flinging chunks of the ground away from the sheer wave of displaced air and red ethereal fire coated sections of its body.

Shalltear made move to intercept him, but Kiros was like a runaway train. This time Kiros wasn't playing around. With the [Path of the Wolf] active, his ATK and AGI were greatly boosted, while some stats suffered greatly in turn. He swung Hastati's Bane and there was a thunderous roar as [Eruption] was activated. Her HP already low, Shalltear was reduced to bloody gobbets as she came into contact with the sword.

"Why won't your just die!" Albedo growled as she stepped forward, "[Wall of Jer-]"

"[Surge]!" Kiros sped up.

Albedo grunted in pain as she was struck in the abdomen. However, rather than being torn in two or obliterated like Shalltear, she simply bent back at an unhealthy angle, but was alive. Once again, her armor had absorbed the fatal damage but she was down to one more charge.

"Oh, just give up already," He snarled while striking at her.

Though on her knees Albedo stubbornly blocked the attacks with her weapon, relying on its inability to break, as anything less would result in Ainz getting injured.

"For. The. Supreme. Ones!" Cocytus yelled, swinging all of his weapons at once.

"Ugh, I never liked bugs." Kiros said as he parried the zealous attacks. Then an idea hit him.

He grabbed one of the limbs and pulled.

Cocytus' eyes widened as he realized what the Player was trying to do. He attempted to retreat while attacking, landing blow after blow but for those strikes not deflected seemed to do inadequate damage. In contrast, Kiros continued to pull and Cocytus screamed in pain.

"Hey, the limb damage system is still working Ri! Sort of... I mean why do still have [Glamour] on? Our forms are great without-" As he was speaking Kiros turned to find Walkiria gripping the Undead Player and speaking sternly to him****.

"Hey, that's just rude." Suddenly he felt a stinging sensation on his chest.

Looking down, he saw a lance tip sticking out.

Kiros glared balefully at the offender, it was the red armored vampire NPC again.

"Some kind of revive ability or item?" He questioned as attempted to bite the diminutive NPC using [Devour].

She leapt backwards, taking her lance with her. At the same time, Cocytus wiggled free and also retreated. The view allowed him to see Albedo also rising, around two thirds of her armor already gone.

"Aw, man, two of these guys must be tanks," Kiros pouted internally.

Whenever playing, players ofter assumed that lower level mobs would pose little challenge. While mostly true, they could be used protect a more powerful opponent by using their bodies as meat shields. In fact, this was the most common reason why certain bosses could summon minions since overwhelming numbers was one of the most predictable tactic used by people.

He didn't want to use any of heavy hitting abilities since his little experiment had already drawn players out. The commotion might even draw max level players like himself and Walkiria. And so, Kiros decided to use an equally old tactic in video games.

He spun around, once more damaging the environment with his sheer speed and made a beeline for the Undead Player.

"Fine, be that way! If you die, then its not my problem!" He heard Walkiria say exasperatedly.

"That's the idea!" Kiros laughed evilly.

"[Wall of Bone!]" Ainz hurriedly cast a spell. A wall made of human skeletons quickly rose from the ground, obscuring him and Walkiria. Kiros' sword shattered the construct in an instant.

His basic attack was slowed by the barrier and only succeeded in knocking away the player from Walkiria. He walked past her with no resistance whatsoever. Kiros smiled.

Ri was never one to pick a fight unless it involved her, and that looked true even now.

He planted a clawed foot on the player, pinning him in place as he raised the sword high.

"Ainz-sama!" The Guardians yelled.

* * *

~ Nazarick, Throne room ~

"Ainz-sama!" The NPCs screamed in despair at their helplessness as they saw their master about to be killed.

* * *

~ Forest, Clearing ~

"LEADER DOWN!" Kiros roared as he swung his sword overhead and activated [Explosive Impact].

Ainz raised his hand in a warding gesture instinctively as the sword came crashing down.

However, before it could complete its descent the blade, as large as it was, was hooked by gleaming scythe that emitted an aura of wrongness, stopping the attack with a violent jerk.

"Need a Rez," Walkiria whispered.

* * *

Author's note:

* One of Albedo's armor ability in canon.

** Shalltear is referring to when it was still a video game.

*** I'm going to assume that the Floor Guardians know what a cash item is but not necessarily what they can do or that there are multiple types of them. This is because a Cash Item is a micro-transaction and they should not have any knowledge of the real world.

**** She's arguing with Ainz to return to Nazarick.

So...here's this chapter. Man, another long one? Anyway, I did some playing of two different online games to ensure I got some mechanics right. Turns out a 40 level gap is not a one shot, but may take at least be two to four hits. This does not take into account abilities and gear resistance/defense, which I did in this chapter. The NPCs on the spot, Albedo and Shalltear, are the most durable in Nazarick if I remember correctly, and coupled with Kiros' reluctance to use his more destructive abilities contributes to their survival.

Anyway, if there are some clarifications, it may be addressed in the next chapter. Not really a whole lot of time to explain everything here in the author's note and it would just add to the bulk of words. Other than that, there may one or two more chapters before the epilogue.

Until next time.


	13. Chapter 13

PVP

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Overlord or SAO

* * *

Early Author's note:

Some questions about this chapter will be undoubtedly raised, so are there some answers to those possible questions below.

And for the two most recent reviews I would like to clear up the misconception you seem to have. Here is the short version: The MC is _**not**_ playing SAO, she is a veteran/survivor of the incident. She is from _**another game**_ set in the future of the SAO universe.

* * *

 _In the beginning there was but chaos. When the world was young, there came forth terrible creatures the likes of which are not seen today..._

* * *

~ Cave, Brain Ungulus ~

The heap that was once a master swordsman twitched. Still slumped in his seating position, the husk that was once Brain Ungulus stared ahead with his glassy eyes as he always did for several days since meeting Shalltear. His mind had shattered once he glimpsed at the near bottomless well of power that was Shalltear Bloodfallen. Despite this, he still had the presence of mind to try to escape but was dragged unceremoniously back, almost casually, by the vampire back into the cave. This was the last straw, and hopelessness of the situation finally reduced him to vegetative state.

He didn't respond to any of the vampire's questions, even when she threw a bone or some other object to try to get his attention or garner a reaction. And so he was completely oblivious of the violence that erupted in the cave chamber several hours ago between Shalltear and a newcomer. Miraculously or by simple luck he was spared from being a collateral damage that had rent asunder the very walls and ceilings themselves.

However, his body began to experience something it had forgotten. Air. Sunlight. Cool. Fresh. Warm. Safe.

Word associations began to form in his mind and bits and pieces of memories surfaced. Almost mechanically he rose, still clutching his weapon in a death grip, stumbled towards the opening and into the outside world.

* * *

~ Forest ~

Kairon crouched as low on the ground as he could. The Black Scripture had followed the sounds of violence upon discovering the ruined bandit lair. It wasn't that hard to track their prey. There were plenty of craters to mark the way of the direction of battle.

Along the way they had activated a concealment item as one of the legacies of the gods. Still, they did not move about casually. Taught first to depend on themselves before their god-descended abilities, the Members of the Black Scripture were instructed thoroughly in the art of infiltration as much as fighting. Even without the item, they would have been difficult to see or track even by expert eyes, not leaving so much as a footprint as they had sped towards their target.

Moving as close as possible to avoid being visually spotted, what greeted them was a sight that was shocking even to the special forces of the Slane Theocracy.

Where there was once a forest was now a blasted wasteland dotted with craters. No tree, large or small, remained standing. Even the grass seemed to have been scoured from the land.

There in the center of the wasteland battled monsters, for they could only be called such, of varying types. Some looked like humanoid spiders wrapped in cloth, others looked like demons from a child's nightmare. They were led, apparently, by a red armored creature with fangs that was most likely a vampire.

Their opponent was equally horrid to look at. Originally a tall blue humanoid, it had morphed when even more monsters arrived to fight it. What was equally frightening to the young leader was that it was struck by a spell from a Lich that could only be described as 8th Tier, perhaps even higher than that.

The awesome display and lingering light show had no doubt that secured the victory of whatever faction the Lich belonged to. But Kairon was wrong. Dead wrong.

Out of the ball of energy, stepped an even more monstrous from. It was a gigantic Werewolf, easily taller than even the blue, four armed insectoid. Its twisted, matted fur poked out from openings of its armor while drool formed at the edges of its mouth as if anticipating a victim. Cruel eyes that seemed to glow with an unearthly power stared back the Lich's group.

When he was first sent on his mission, Kairon was to stop the resurrection of a Dragon Lord, a daunting task in itself but he never expected to encounter an even larger threat along the way! And there was more than one!

Kairon made his decision. Fighting was out of the question based on what he'd seen. Too little information and the fact that his team was geared to fight a Dragon Lord, not a mixed bag of monstrosities!

"Do you have the teleport scroll?" He turned to Alyssa. She responded wordlessly by taking out the treasure.

"Kaire-sama," He turned to keeper and wielder of the god-artifact, "Ready it."

He had selected his target. It was one who likely held the most information, and was currently at its weakest despite it's kind's legendary resistance to magic.

The Lich.

* * *

~ Nazarick, Throne Room ~

"What do mean there was barely a decrease in its HP?!" Demiurge growled at Nigredo.

"There was a slight diminution in its total HP," Nigredo answered back unhelpfully, "There is no other way I can describe it."

"I have also detected a restructuring of its overall stats as well." She added.

"What does it involve?" The Imp asked.

"An increase in PHY ATK, HP, AGI," The skinless NPC replied, "As well as a decrease in other stats though it does not appear proportional."

"Titus?" He turned to the Librarian, "Do the Supreme Beings' records say anything about this?"

"There is none regarding even this ability Demiurge-sama," Titus bowed his apologetically, "There are many treatises on transformation abilities, but again, nothing that fully matches this."

As Librarian of Nazarick, his settings stated that he had memorized a summary of the content of every book in the library as well as knowing the location of every book in the area. In short, his creator made him into the perfect librarian.

"No information again? What is happening?" Demiurge wondered, unable to understand why the Supreme Beings had no record of beings such as Beta Players. The only time he had ever heard of them was when Ainz-sama revealed their existence in this very throne room. As expected of him, to know of something so secretive and obscure.

However, now was not the time for such thoughts.

"Hey, Demiurge!" Aura walked up to him, looking uncharacteristically serious, "How long are we gonna stay here?! We need to show that punk the consequences of disrespecting our master!"

Mare nodded timidly but without hesitation as well.

"No, we most certainly will not stand idly by," Demiurge agreed, "Stay here in the throne room, I will go to be of use to Ainz-sama."

"Huh?!" Aura was surprised, "Why just you?!"

"Albedo relayed Ainz-sama's instructions to me," Demiurge explained while sending a mental command to his subordinates in his floor, "His will is that we stay here to observe the fight and warn of any other approaching players and _to defend Nazarick_."

"I do not want you two to be punished for disobeying an order," Demiurge finished, "his will is absolute and I am about to disobey it by joining the battle, someone must stay behind to guard the home of our creators."

"I'm not afraid of being punished!" Aura snarled, "I would give my life for the Supreme Beings just like before!...But you're right I guess. Someone has to stay behind."

"I understand your feelings," Demiurge smiled as he prepared to teleport to the surface, since Nazarick had multiple layers of anti-teleportation spells, "Just as I am happy you understand my reasoning."

"Demiurge-sama," Nigredo interrupted before he could teleport, "What about those insects wearing Player gear?"

She moved the image to reveal the Black Scripture, with Kaire charging the [Downfall of Castle and Country].

"Umm, Are they really that strong?" Mare asked, the word "Player" associating itself with "Enemy" in his mind.

"I estimate their highest level to be 70," Nigredo responded with a shrug, "I am sure, however, that they are not Players."

The information was all Demiurge needed to hear.

"What about them?" Demiurge asked dismissively as he vanished in a flash of light.

* * *

~ Forest clearing, Players ~

"Hey! What the-" Kiros' question was cut short when he was launched backwards with an attack from Walkiria.

Though he was pushed back a fair distance he received no damage as he blocked the damage. Landing gracefully on his clawed feet he glared at his fellow Tester.

"So, as I was saying," Kiros buried his blade into the ground angrily, "What gives? You want him dead too? C'mon Ri, you know the rules! You had your chance, so its my kill!"

"Not really," The lavender haired High Vampire responded, "Though I do want to beat some sense into him sometimes, this is about- hey, who are those?"

She pointed to something behind Kiros. Most people would have scoffed at the seemingly obvious attempt at distraction, but Kiros knew the people he dealt with and such simplistic tactics were beneath them. Except maybe KaKa, who seemed to be a bit crazy. Also, there was the fact that with his enhanced sense of smell he could detect them as well. He knew that smell.

He half-turned, placing his back to Ainz's group but keeping Walkiria in his peripheral vision. Sure enough, it was those Scripture guys. They were deployed in a defensive position, the classic half-circle which was designed to protect the healers and mages in the rear, a tactic not even once displayed by Ainz's group.

Kiros noticed that the granny wearing that white dress was chanting and slowly beginning to glow. As a Player, he knew a spell build-up when he saw one.

* * *

~ Black Scripture ~

As soon as the Relic's spell was charged Kaire, its keeper and user, sent it out to the target: the Lich.

In its weakened state most of its magical barriers should be down and the fact it was a type of academic meant that it would contain vast amounts of information valuable to the Theocracy. One of such for starters would be answers to _what exactly was happening_!

A dragon made of pure energy burst forth from the item and roared towards its target. The item, Downfall of Castle and Country, was an item of such power that not even a Dragon Lord could resist it. It was one of the many items that allowed the Theocracy to exist for all these years though few would ever know why.

As the projection approached its intended target the Undead seemed surprised once again. However, just as its two aides leapt to its defense, it was the blue insectoid that stepped between the dragon and its master.

[Servant's. Purpose!] It yelled in its rough and halting speech.

Multiple colors swirled around it that seemed to suck in the very air itself.

The dragon rather than pass through or avoid the creature, instead entered it. There was a flash of light and the blue creature slumped over, as if exhausted from a long day of work.*

"Well, that was a disappointment." The Werewolf quipped. The Vampire said nothing as it stood to the side, waiting to see what the effect was.

The two had made no action to intercept or flee the spell activation.

"Cocytus, are you alright?" Ainz asked, full of concern.

"Ainz-sama has asked you a question Cocytus!" Albedo yelled in anger when Cocytus failed to answer or even move.

The other group was also in a conundrum.

"Tch! It didn't hit!" Kairon clicked his tongue in annoyance, "Never mind! Kaire-sama order it to come with us! Alyssa, ready that spell!"

"Come to us beast! Quickly!" Kaire snapped out the command, still confused as to why the spell had failed.

With jerky movements Cocytus slowly made his way towards the Black Scripture. Before he could reach them, however, a black form seemingly made of smoke and dark red energy sped towards them. Blades seemed to shimmer in and out of existence randomly as it made a direct line towards Kaire.

"Defensive form-" Kairon's call was cut short when the Vampire suddenly materialized out the smoke to knock down the first defense line, which included him.

"OOOOOHHHH!" Vardun, being a fighter, he was the fastest to recover. He yelled as he swung his hammer directly at the Vampire's head. Once in motion it had a special ability that did extra damage on the first hit, then the ability would recharge after a relatively short amount of time thereby allowing a series of devastating hits on the target. It would severely harm even a Basilisk if the hit connected. Only it didn't.

Before the hammer could hit, the Vampire had simply grabbed the handle near the head and wrenched it out of the burly warrior's hands. With an underhand swing Walkiria turned the weapon against its former master. There was an awful squelching sound as Vardun was splattered into bloody bits before he could even recover from his shock.

To the disgust and horror of the Black Scripture the Vampire inhaled and they could see some of the red mist that hung in air entered her nostrils. Then she turned to the rest who were knocked down by her attack and they saw no hint of humanity in the creature's eyes.

The members were stunned. A veteran member, one specifically chosen to help subdue a Dragon Lord, was gone in an instant. In this particular moment, Kairon knew that they had to escape to bring back word of these monsters back to the Theocracy, with or without a mind-controlled creature.

He stood and raised his spear. Constantine and the rest of the front line fighters joined him.

"Alyssa, don't bother waiting for the creature!" Kairon ordered "Do it now!"

The blonde haired member took out the teleportation scroll and activated it. Runes lit up and began to spin below the entire group.

"Attack these foul monsters!" Kaire ordered sternly, if they would not benefit from any information from the blue insectoid's capture they might as well get some final shots in.

"Do not stop until they are all dead and then- end yourself!"

It was pretty optimistic, even naive, to expect a single entity to kill all the parties present but Kaire didn't live that long without learning to cover all bases.

"Aaarrgh!" Kaire turned to see three more members, Beaumarchias and Serantio cut down by a giant scythe. Kairon, the captain, thankfully was still alive, clutching the ruined side of his face.

However, there was hope. The teleportation runes' glow was now blinding. This had only happened once before, when she was young. Kaire remembered it took eight seconds for the spell [Mass Recall] but it was eight seconds too late for the veteran. Indeed, everything seemed to happen slowly, as if everyone was underwater.

The Vampire extended a hand, aimed at her direction. Runes that hurt the eyes swirled around it. Kaire saw Cedran, faithful Cedran, who was her shield bearer, raise his two massive tower shields to protect her from any spell that might come even at the cost his own life. But it was all for naught as Kaire _exploded_ in the most bloody fashion.

As they de-materialized, the members of the Scripture called out her name in anguish as the World Item [Downfall of Castle and Country] floated down on the ground.

* * *

~ ANO Players ~

"Huh, and I'm the bully?" Kairos wondered as he watched the slaughter of the Black Scripture, "Oh well. Back to business." He stalked towards Ainz's group once more. Then he felt a tiny sting on his back.

Kairos turned around to see the blue insect NPC madly hacking and slashing at him.

"I. WILL. DESTROY. YOU." It droned as it attacked.

"That's not a bad idea!" Kairos snarled, "[Flurry of Strikes]".

Several rapid hits landed on Cocytus halting his frenzied strikes. Before the combo could even finish he succumbed to his wounds. As Cocytus fell to his knees the final strike reduced his corpse to bits, splattering his green blood on the ground.

Kiros howled a wolfish howl in joy. It was always a thrill to steamroll your opponents.

Turning his sights once more on the other Player, he snorted in annoyance. Another portal opened up and more NPCs marched out and formed up in front of the Lich.

What was up with this guy did he have his own base or something? Oh well. It didn't matter. Maybe he'd hit the place next.**

Walkiria clicked her tongue in annoyance as the party teleported away from the battle. Other that the marks on the ground, and the blood splatters, there was no indication of there being a fight. At least she got of most of what she wanted.

Having decided on her course of action already, the sudden appearance of a third party was fortunate. Walkiria had used her ability [Fatal Delight] which required that she kill a certain amount of enemies to receive a set percentage of stat boost for a set amount of time. Unlike her other ability [Blood Bond], which was used to close the gap between an opponent with a level difference, [Fatal Delight] was the ability to employ if she wanted to overpower an opponent.

And the deaths of the Black Scripture members gotten a decent stack. It didn't matter what she killed, player or NPC, but it was clear that players were far more difficult targets to pursue for the reasons that the bonus would be rendered moot if there was only one opponent or if there were several and she could not take them out. Luckily, the inhabitants of this world counted as valid targets as well for the ability.

"Hmmm, looks like they left something behind," Walkiria muttered as she picked up [Downfall of Castle and Country].

"Come here my little XP bags!" She heard a gleeful voice behind her.

Walkiria turned to see Kiros cutting through reinforcements from Nazarick. She sighed upon seeing this. Her decision was correct after all. Kiros didn't even have the patience to wait until she was done. She activated [Mist Step] and rushed towards the gathering.

Bodies were flung left and right as Kiros swung his massive sword through the POP mob. They were cheap summons by Yggdrasil standards and thus were used primarily as to warn owners of an attack and slow down invaders by their bulk of numbers. However, they might as well have not been there.

Ainz could see the threat but could come up with no plan. Whenever his guildmates PK'd someone they would first gather extensive information about them before attacking mercilessly. If they were the ones being attacked then escape was the only option. The penalty for being PK'd at level 100 was simply too high to risk it unless the opponent was clearly a noob.

Perhaps running away would have been the more prudent action. He had complete confidence he could at least force the other player into a stalemate. After all, he had two fresh Guardians at his side and the enemy was fighting Shalltear for an extended period. However, he misjudged the capacity of the Guardians to work as a team and opponent's strength. Now...

[Titanic Wall] He cast another defensive spell to buy time to decide on a course of action.

"That didn't work last time!" Kiros yelled.

Once again the wall shattered but before the Therianthrope could charge into the ranks of the Guardians he was struck at the side and sent tumbling through the air.

As the debris stopped raining Ainz could see that it was Walkiria who attacked the other player, presumably having dispatched the other group.

"We're not done yet." The beta tester said cooly.

"Oh? I thought there was nothing to talk about." Kiros' eyes suddenly widened with realization, "Oho ho! Wait! Don't tell me! You feel sorry for him."

"I feel sorry for him all right, but not because he's gonna get a beat down," Walkiria said ignoring the growls of indignation from Nazarick's forces, "No, I'm just solving a long term problem, that's all."

She looked back to see the [Gate] Demiurge used was still active.

"But first, lets clean up shall we?" Walkiria smiled as her eyes glowed red. Black and red mist swirled around her and Kiros jumped back knowing what was going to happen.

She rose into the air and let out an ear splitting scream that caused shockwaves to blast outward. Her form fitting armor melted and reformed, turning into black and worn, but ultimately sturdy armor. At the same time, Walkiria's limbs stretched to inhuman proportions with her elongated fingers now sporting a wicked looking talon each. The four wings on her back expanded in size until they could have covered the player up like a tent. The last to change was her head. The neck extended outward as her face smoothed out, becoming as pale as the moon leaving the glowing red eyes as the only distinguishing mark.

Finally, two bat ears sprouted from the side of the head, twitching with life as they took in the sounds of the surroundings.

"I'm starting!" Kiros yelled the second the transformation ended, bringing his sword down in a crushing strike.

An upward swing of a scythe blade parried the attack and sent the Therianthrope staggering back.

Walkiria leapt backwards and landed with her back towards Ainz. Without turning she executed a swift kick and sent the Lich flying towards the portal.

"Urgh! Hey! What the hell was that for!" Ainz complained.

"Ungrateful Bitch! I'll have your head!" Albedo raged as she hefted her weapon.

 ** _"Go HoMe Ainz"_** The words were not so much spoken but rather resonated inside heads the nearby NPCs and Ainz.

During her character creation she set her expressions all to zero on the facial animation section to see if anything would come out of it. Unexpectedly, no problems occurred and her mouth merely did not move when "speaking". Indeed, right now as this world's rules interpreted the "Transition" her face was like a porcelain mask when speaking. Now that [Glamour] was deactivated all pretenses of normality vanished.

 ** _"ThE AdUltS aRe aBouT to HAve a DisaGrEemEnT."_**

Throughout all this Demiurge was still a bit confused as to what was happening but the Beta-Player's words seemed to be for his master's safety. And even if it wasn't he would take the opportunity to bring Ainz-sama from further harm.

"Apologies my lord," Demuirge said as he helped up the Lich, "But we should leave."

The remaining summons quickly formed a cordon around Ainz and the Guardians.

"You're going to let her get away with this insult Demiurge?!" Albedo turned with a wild look in her eyes.

"Lord Ainz decides on our course of action, not you Albedo-san." Demiurge said, turning to his lord. With his unfathomable intellect surely he could understand Demiurge's case with those few words?

Ainz made a show of dusting himself before looking at the field. Though he sounded calm and composed Ainz's rage was boiling inside. Anything of value here was gone! Shalltear and Cocytus were gone and they couldn't even take prisoners from those fellows he saw earlier...

"There's nothing to be gained here anymore," He said masking his emotional state, "We will return to Nazarick."

Albedo slumped her shoulders in obedience and proceeded to move with Ainz and Demiurge when there was a thunderclap.

"Not so fast noob!" The Werewolf roared. He had propelled himself at such a speed towards the group that his action had caused the sound.

At the last second he was stopped by a thrown scythe that impacted right in front of him, knocking him backwards.

Ainz looked up to see Walkiria, with her still unmoving face, hold out a hand. A black and purple portal appeared on the ground next to her and her scythe rose up from its depths.

As soon as the weapon was back in her hands Walkiria leapt up for vicious downward strike but Kiros rolled out of the way while simultaneously slashing at the attacking Player.

Regaining his footing, Kiros delivered a series of slashes that left a series of molten trenches on the ground. Undeterred, Walkiria responded with her own set of attacks that created a circle of death around her. Molten fire and lightning clashed with the coolness and silence of the void as both weapons collided with one another, their owner seeking an opening in their opponents.

With his aggressor occupied Ainz took the opportunity to leave.

 _If they want to fight it so badly, LET THEM!_

* * *

~ Nazarick, Throne Room ~

Upon arrival on the first floor of Nazarick via Demiurge's [Gate], Ainz teleported to the throne room use his guild ring.

"Ainz-sama!", two childish voices, belonging to Aura and Mare respectively, ran up to greet him. The rage in Ainz's heart momentarily cooled when he saw the twins. At least the rest of Nazarick was safe.

He looked up to see Titus and Nigredo kneeling respectfully.

"Rise both of you", he commanded with a wave of his hand, "So you are here Titus," He turned to the librarian.

"Apologies Ainz-sama," Demiurge said behind him, bowing respectfully, "I brought him here to see if there were any records against this Player that Shalltear encountered. I will accept any punishment you see fit for leaving Nazarick despite your orders."

"No it was good decision Demuirge," Ainz responded as he took his seat, "I also commend you for coming to our aid."

"Thank you very much Ainz-sama," Demiurge bowed even lower, "I only wish my services could have done more for your plans."

Ainz made an "Umu' sound as he turned to Titus, "Was there anything on the records about this Player?"

"This one apologizes Ainz-sama," Titus bowed as well, "Despite the many records left by the Supreme Beings, not one of them mentions anything about this enemy."

"Hmmm," Ainz stroked his chin as he looked at the battle on the screen projected by Nigredo's ability. Not finding any information was expected, there were many players out there that even the guild did not encounter. He noticed a book floating in the air with the same image of the fight playing out. There was a pen simultaneously writing on the empty space below the image.

"Hoh? So you are recording the fight?" Ainz mused out loud, "Excellent foresight Titus, no matter the outcome we can review the fight at our leisure later."

"You honor this humble servant with your praise," Titus bowed.

"Albedo, you may leave us and rest, you have sustained the most damage out of all of us." Ainz said. While he did, in fact, suffer excruciating pain Ainz was healed by the strange item Walkiria used and felt much better than before the fight, this left Albedo as the only one who wasn't really in top shape. Ainz did not recall seeing her healing herself, and from what he understood from her settings, Albedo's armor took two of three supposedly fatal hits.

"I am fine Ainz-sama," Albedo curtsied with a smile at his attention, "If you will permit, I will stay a bit longer."

Secretly though, she wanted to see Walkiria fall in the fight. The information she would give Ainz-sama would not be worth much in atonement, she must _suffer_ for all her slights.

"Very well," Ainz nodded.

Ainz now focused on the fight, deciding to make the most of situation. He noticed that the two fighters were not using a lot of skills or abilities. One or two would flare up every now and then, but they kept it to basic attacks. Only, they were not just swinging their weapons about.

In Yggdrasil, players could choose to guide their attacks much like how real warriors would in the past in real life. However, in Ainz's experience most players would often just use basic moves with their weapon, content to land a hit in any way possible and let the effects show before repeating the action. There were exceptions such as those who practiced Kendo or other martial arts in real life such as Warrior Takemikazuchi, but the case above was applicable to the majority. But not these two on the screen.

Their movements were smooth and practiced like they had done this for hours. Their attacks were aimed at vital areas of their opponents and in turn the strike would either be dodged, countered or blocked before a retaliation. The fight moved back and forth, with the advantage switching hands.

The Werewolf player was able to take more hits, whereas Walkiria relied on speed and seemingly took more damage with every attack that landed on her. STR-VIT vs. AGI-DEX, a classic match up.

There was another clash that created a new crater underneath the players before they separated. The two enemies eyed each other warily in a staring contest.

After a few seconds, the Werewolf was the first to move, planting his crackling blade into the ground.

"Oh? They're speaking," Ainz thought, grateful not for the first time that Nigredo's ability could include sound, "This is a chance to potentially get more information."

* * *

~ Forest clearing, Red Players ~

"So, mind telling me what this is about?" Kiros huffed petulantly, "You don't want that guy dead, but you won't let me kill him?

"Let me say this in a way you'll understand." Walkiria drew herself up to her full height and spread her wings.

"When I first got here, it was a bloody entrance but then again, I didn't expect it to be real at first," Walkiria began, "When I met him, he offered that we work together until we can get out bearings in this mess."

"And this is going where?" Kiros shifted impatiently.

"But not you. When we first met you attacked me!" Walkiria hissed, "And here, now, even when you clearly had enough time to realize that this isn't a game, _again_ , your first act was to try and murder someone."

"So you see Kiros," Walkiria concluded, "The very first thing you do when you get a second shot at life is try to murder people and quite frankly I think its a prudent investment to ensure that I don't have to look at my back every time I do something from now on."

Silence passed between the two before Kiros' unexpected response to Walkiria's reasoning.

"Ahahahahahahaha!" Kiros leaned forward as he burst out laughing, surprising the observing residents of Nazarick, and angering Walkiria.

"Laugh it up while you can," Walkiria said with cool rage.

"H-hey! Then don't mind if I do!" Kiros said in between laughs.

"But seriously that's it?" He said after calming down, "That's your reason. Ri, don't you know exactly how you're acting like?"

"Do tell." Walkiria narrowed her eyes.

"Your acting like your true self - A red player!" Kiros grinned a wolfish grin, "It doesn't matter who shot first, well technically I'm guilty of that even way back in SAO, BUT the fact is that's exactly how us red players do things. We PK players - no negotiations, no prisoners."

"I wasn't like that in Aincrad!" Walkiria snarled.

"Oh really?" He scoffed in disbelief, "You gonna pull the self-defense card? Do you remember how many Players you had to PK to make it to orange, never mind red?"

"Just admit it, those days in Aincrad showed us what we're really like!" Kiros spread his arms as if speaking to a crowd, "You stayed with us PKers for the Beta even though you didn't have to. And you know what this shows?! You're. Just. Like. Us."

Walkiria gripped her scythe and stared at him with murderous rage.

"There see? I bet this is how you started out back then," Kiros unstuck his sword, "Its better to be honest, just like the good old days eh?"

"I hate the 'good old days'!," Walkiria roared as she launched herself at Kiros.

 _My future was stolen from me! I won't have a repeat of that time ever again!_

[Bloody Spikes]!

A row of red and black spikes erupted out of the ground and rushed towards Kiros. He leapt back and slashed away at the emerging spikes but more simply took their place. Finally the assault stopped after a certain distance.

"Our abilities' range is probably the same but its still difficult to estimate them." Kiros looked to the side to see Walkiria charging at him. Despite her rage filled voice earlier, her avatar's face looked just like it did the game, a pale unmoving face.

He brought up his sword and its blade collided with the reinforced neck of Walkiria's scythe. The main blade of the weapon was only millimeters from his face, and Kiros' eye twitched.

Too close. He needed to create some distance.

[Repel]

His blade glowed yellow and emitted a small electrical sphere, pushing Walkiria back and dealing some damage. Now that they were some distance away - [Afterburn Impact]!

[Twisted Stroke]! Walkiria met the attack head on with her own Skill.

There was a thunderclap as both weapons locked once more.

Walkiria seeing direct attacks would not work, opted to shift her tactics to her preferred method. Though she should have started to fight like this, Walkiria was truly enraged for the first time since coming to this world and had let her emotions dictate her actions.

Well, it was time for that to end.

She forced herself to calm down and submerge her consciousness into the cold, calculating nature of a High Vampire.

Walkiria's [True Form] extended its senses outward and found what it had sought.

Blood.

Not just from the humans she had slain earlier for the stat buff their deaths would grant her, but also from the NPCs Ainz brought. Those two Guardians, in particular, were killed in a fairly bloody manner.

She sensed it from within, even if was not human blood it would suffice. She could feel the ability being "available" for use.

Walkiria channeled her strength and used one of the unique abilities to the High Vampire race, regardless of what build they chose.

Slowly, droplets of blood all over the surrounding area rose, formed and hardened into bladed tips. Kiros looked around in confusion at the spectacle around him. He had never seen this ability before since the group's hunts meant that they didn't have to go all out on targets.

As if guided by invisible strings the crystallized blood swung in unison, pointing themselves at Kiros.

Walkiria smiled as she felt the Skill was finished.

[Red Storm]!

As if hearing her command, the blood-blades shot towards their target.

 **\- 0 -**

Ainz tapped his chin as Nigredo reported the most recent results of Walkiria's attack.

"She's won this fight." He unintentionally said out.

The Guardians turned to Ainz in awe, wondering how he divined the outcome of the fight after just one move that did not outright eliminate the opponent.

 **\- 0 -**

The fight had lasted for a few minutes now and while both players were battered, the flow of the fight belonged to Walkiria.

Despite Kiros having a noticeable advantage in damage per hit and roughly the same reach with his giant blade, Walkiria had a definitive advantage with both her abilities and her scythe. Attempts to close in with the High Vampire resulted in Walkiria using attacks and abilities that knocked back Kiros. This meant that any damage he inflicted, while very painful, came at a steep price. Furthermore, [Red Storm] which was considered a special racial ability, had significantly cut Kiros' HP and his Werewolf form, a fighter's specialty, had nothing similar in exchange for all other benefits it provided such as immunity from mid-tier magic spells and below.

With a roar of victory Walkiria knocked aside Kiros' blade and delivered a vicious cut to his chest with a swing of her weapon.

Kiros slumped on the ground, kneeling as blood gushed out from the wound. He could tell his life was fading away...into something much more.

He looked at Walkiria who kept her distance but observed him coldly with that unmoving mask the player sculpted as a "face" for her Avatar.

"Still overly cautious eh?" He thought, "Its not gonna help. Not if my exploit idea is gonna work."

"Heh, did you really think I was just lying around thinking on how I'm going to kill players once I realized what happened?" He rose to his feet, albeit with a lot of pain from doing so, "I was going through my stuff and came across that thing, the one we get after maxing out our Karma. No one knew at the time how to get it to work since that ass, Kirito, wrote the requirements as a riddle but I think I figured it out. He wasn't as smart as he thought he was."

"I was gonna test out that item after PKing that noob," Kiros spat out blood, "Guess I have to improvise now."

"Sub-par than a win," Kiros raised his sword but rather than point it at Walkiria, aimed the tip at himself, "Better than a loss!"

To the complete surprise of Walkiria and those watching in Nazarick, Kiros stabbed himself.

Light emanated from his core of his being as he seemingly exploded. However, the light did not stop. In fact, it got brighter.

The heat levels from the explosion began to intensify as the sphere expanded outwards, forcing Walkiria to retreat further and further.

Then a single claw, black as obsidian, emerged followed by another. The ground shook as a massive creature stepped out of the cosmic embryo. On its head was a crown of spikes, some jagged while others curled backwards like that of a ram. Its titanic frame was covered with bright fissures that periodically spewed flames outwards, while its limbs, and there were more than four, were far thicker than anything Walkiria had ever seen.

Its arrow shaped hear, that looked like it was fused to its trunk like body, turned to regard Walkiria with eyes made of white hot flame. Then with a sound like a heavy concrete block being dragged on a street, the creature roared.

* * *

Author's note:

11th Chapter up! I assume there will be some questions regarding the events of this chapter so I'll try to address those that I think would be the most likely.

The first is probably how could Cocytus have an ability that would divert the attack of a World Class item to himself? Well, I would assume that since he was probably made after the Valkyrie's Downfall update/event mentioned in Vol. 1 his abilities would either be new and thus unaccounted for by the "New World" regarding the effect of [Downfall]. The second possible reason is that while [Downfall of Castle and Country]'s effects are absolute, its targeting isn't. This is because it appears to be one of the lesser World Items, i.e. those that don't change the game world just a portion of the game's rules and break in the process. Thus, while he is able to change the target of [Downfall] he can't block its effects.

The second is probably Kiros' transformation. Its essentially those mega forms/vehicles you see in games where you can drive a summoned tank, dreadnought and what-have-you to blast through enemies. The way to counter these things are, of course, very obvious.

A guest review has also stated that Walkiria's level is really low in SAO, but I'm pretty sure I've clearly stated in Ch. 1 that she was testing a _**new game developed by Kirito**_ in the future. In the game, ANO, the maximum level is 140 which can be easily raised in future updates if/when the game will be released in her world. She simply thinks a lot about SAO because it basically ruined her life. There were no Werewolf, Vampire, Naga, etc. races from SAO as far as I know so that should have been the first clue.

Last but not least is the maid scenario. I think this should be addressed since I do get a few reviews on this part. So anyway, while the section does seem uncalled for but we have to remember that she was in an unfamiliar place and in a very weird situation. What she did does seems extremely rude, but there was no way anyone would have asked for food. In open world games people seem to look for forges or shops first before anything else. Only Ainz, as a player, would know about the bar seeing as the guild bothered to make one as a bar would not be very high on the build list. And lastly the thought of offering her food would not have crossed Ainz's mind in the first place. His only concern would be knowing where she was at the time and how she could help finding his friends. We should also note that it took some time before Ainz even wondered if the Guardians needed to eat.

So while this does look like some kind of victory for Walkiria, it shows that she's very much like a real person in the sense that she shows some form selfishness or hesitate to aid someone if it seems to costly on their part.

To those who will bother to leave a review, is the story clear so far? How is the flow of this most recent chapter? I have taken some time to upload this due to various reasons so it might seem inconsistent.

Until next time.


	14. Chapter 14

Match End

Disclaimer: I do not own Overlord or SAO

* * *

Suggested soundtracks -

*Yhorm the Giant - Dark Souls III OST

** Lost Mind - Code Geass: Akito the Exiled OST

* * *

~ Forest, ANO Players ~

The fiery colossus loomed over Walkiria like a predator that had cornered its prey, its body emitting an unearthly heat from the numerous cracks on its stocky frame.

Rather than ponder on how he had managed to unlock the ability, Walkiria's mindset immediately shifted on how to deal with it.

Gazing up at it, she could see its _ten_ HP bars and its name:

 _Child of Surtr -_

 _[Primordial] Spaerk Pyralis*_

A few moments passed before it growled and brought its massive paw crashing down of her. However, Walkiria was no longer there. While its attack was by no means slow, its size telegraphed any move it made. Still...

Walkiria examined her status after the attack. It had taken two dash type maneuvers to barely avoid getting hit directly. She had taken some minuscule damage from a small AOE when its paw made contact with the ground and she was almost sent to the maximum point of the [Staggered] state.

The "eyes" of her avatar would have narrowed if they could at these disturbing revelations of this new predicament. While she herself had one of the [Event Horizon] gems, no one had been able to discover how to unlock its ability. The most popular rumor was that it was an anti-group ability, or at least something to be of use in guild-to-guild combat. It seems there was some truth to the rumor after all.

Taking all things she had deduced from the single basic attack, Walkiria was determined know more so she could better combat this form.

[Blood Thirsty Lance]! A dark bolt shot out from her free hand and struck the side of the Primordial as it turned laboriously to face her. The damage was negligible.

 _Spaerk_ pounded the ground and charged towards her like a bull, this time a fiery cone projected itself forward, vaporizing the ground it came into contact with. Dodging three times in a row to avoid the attack Walkiria was now in a position behind him.

"How about this?" She wondered. She struck it several times with her scythe to see how much a basic attack would do. The reason for this was because Walkiria had distributed a certain effect into the scythe and her other equipment known as [Void] which dealt a unique type of damage but for basic attacks only.

Since it did not qualify as physical attack, magic attack or even an elemental attack the [Resistance] stat was useless against it. The one negative thing about it was that there a fixed percentage of the [Void] damage as well as the fact that the item or skill had to occupy a valuable jewel or ability slot in the equipment in question.

The scythe left several gashes on the areas it hit but the wounds looked superficial and after checking its HP bar, Walkiria confirmed this to be so.

In response _Spaerk_ shook itself like a wet dog drying itself. Only in this case a wave of fire extended outwards in every direction forcing Walkiria back once again even as she took damage.

While her avatar's "face" could not show it, Walkiria was gnashing her teeth in rage. A single attack from this thing drained her of over thirty percent of her total HP! It was truly the anti-army feature that was the talk of the Beta community for quite some time until the effort to discover it was abandoned.

As it turned around to face her once more, she analyzed what she had learned from this new type of ability the enemy player possessed. Even if most her dodges were perfectly timed and she hit it with her most powerful attacks a lot of HP and MP potions would have to be consumed and even then it would be doubtful if she could truly kill it. There was also the fact that she was not sure if those potions could be reacquired again. Spending the more valuable [Captive Fey], of which one she used on Ainz earlier, was unthinkable as she would be here for the foreseeable future.

Lastly there was the fact that Kiros was learning the effectivity or rather lack of it that her attacks were dealing to wards his form as much as she was learning his new abilities. With this she concluded that she could not win against him alone in this state or even survive long enough to exhaust the repertoire of abilities it had and so she decided her next course of action.

She took to the skies. There were some things you simply couldn't do solo.

Using her wings, Walkiria launched herself into the heavens planning on hiding her presence in the clouds until she could decide on her next course of action, but the [Primordial] had another surprise in store for her.

It opened its mouth seemingly to roar again but instead fired a white hot beam at Walkiria. She evaded again but had a bad feeling about this attack. [Wall of Blood]! She activated the defensive ability and immediately a tendrils of dark red energy formed a barrier in front of her. Despite being one of her few but sturdy defensive skills it still shattered under the attack and the shockwave flung her high above the clouds.

* * *

~ Great Tomb of Nazarick ~

Ainz steepled his bony fingers together as he continued to listen to Nigredo's real time report on the ensuing battle. The long forgotten burning sensation he had experienced as a lower level player had resurfaced as soon as he returned to Nazarick.

"What did I overlook?" He wondered, "He was fighting Shalltear for a couple of hours, three level 100 Guardians should have been enough, plus myself."

Ainz did not factor in the POP summoned for fodder. Even they would not have lasted long against him had he been in the same position and they had fulfilled their intended purpose of buying time.

"Does he have a World Item?" Ainz theorized, "It would certainly explain this new form he took."

He knew there were some races that allowed some kind of transformation ability but nothing like this.

"Hmmm," he brought up his menu as he noticed that Nigredo's focus was on the fiery player.

"Still alive it seems," He murmured out loud. Ainz had checked his "Friend" list to see Walkiria's name in color. Had she been killed it would have been grayed out. Unknown to Ainz, the Guardians heard him indicated only Albedo grinding her teeth.

"Nigredo locate Walkiria," Ainz instructed as he activated [Message].

The view shifted upwards as Nigredo wordlessly complied and after a few seconds, Walkiria was seen within the clouds in a sorry state. Despite her monstrous form, she was clearly in a state of distress. Parts of her black armor were melted and some kind of eldritch light was escaping through the cracks rather than blood, with the only thing that was considered clean was the white, unmoving face.

{It seems things aren't looking too good for you,} Ainz said through [Message].

{For now...} Walkiria responded darkly.

Through Nigredo's ability Ainz watched as she pulled out another of those ambers she had used to heal him and crushed it. Red orbs briefly exploded outwards but were forcibly pulled towards her. Within moments her wounds healed and she looked ready to fight once more.

{Don't tell me you're going to fight him again?} Ainz asked, {Even if you retreat after a while then attack again, he'll catch on to the tactic.}

{Of course not,} Walkiria responded, {He'll have to change back sometime, and when he does...}

She left the last part hanging.

{And if he doesn't?} Ainz asked.

{Then I'll switch to Plan B,} She said after a while, {I have the same item too and I have an inkling as to how to activate it. Its too unreasonable for it to have a different activation requirement.}

{Simple but effective I see,} Ainz cupped his chin, {Unfortunately, I don't have the time to wait nor will I let this insult to my guild pass without punishment. You people have caused me enough trouble already.}

{Didn't you just get your ass handed to you?!} Walkiria said heatedly, {How hard were you hit on the head?! If you have a death wish I'm not stopping you this time!}

{I thought that three Guardians was enough,} Ainz admitted, {Since he didn't listen the first time, it seems I'll have to be a bit more forceful. The only ones with a death wish are those who harm my friends or their creations.}

{You don't know anything about death.} She growled before the connection was cut off.

"Walkiria has a plan, actually two, to deal with that monstrosity," Ainz stood up from the throne causing the Guardians to shift their attention from the view to him.

"However, I cannot wait for it to succeed," He continued, "The honor of the Guild demands it."

His red orbs looked down on the remaining Guardians.

"Demiurge, Mare," Ainz said after a few seconds, "Prepare yourselves, I will return shortly. Notify me of any developments."

"What about me Ainz-sama?" Albedo asked with concern, "I can be of use! Even as a shield-no, that my sole purpose as your servant in the battlefield!"

"You have taken much damage in the previous fight Albedo," Ainz responded, "Also, as Overseer, I need you to watch over Nazarick for the time being."

"But-"

"Do you not trust that I will return victorious?"

"I-I do! I will eagerly await your triumphant return!" Albedo beamed.

With that matter settled Ainz teleported to the treasury, his first stop in his plan, to collect a few items and a certain NPC he'd hoped no one would ever see...

* * *

~ Plains ~

The gigantic creature of fire lumbered outwards, not having any particular direction in mind. Every step it made shook the earth, while anything that might be classified as combustible burst into flame from its radiant heat. Were this in city, no doubt its simple passing would have left catastrophic results, however, for now it simply looked like a scene from a long forgotten time before humans.

Deep within, the mind of the player Kiros was ecstatic. He had finally figured out how to use this item at the last minute. Sure, how he activated it was a gamble, but it really paid off. During their harvest spree in the last days of the game they came across some rare items, including the [Event Horizon] gem.

To his knowledge Walkiria was the only other one in the group to have gotten one as a drop - from another player who had it. It looks like she still didn't know how to activate it, otherwise she would have done so as a counter to his form. Its not like she could copy his method of activation either, as the in-game lore stated that there was a specific method to activate each [Event Horizon] due to the sheer advantage it offered the user.

"I wonder if there's a time limit?" Kiros thought, "It'd be a pain to try to get the requirements up again. Hmmm?"

His massive form looked up to see the sky changing color. Like watching multicolored dye poured into water, the environment expanded and twisted into differing incoherent shapes as if in someone's nightmare. Kiros lifted his foot and saw that the ground beneath it was no longer glassed from the heat. Something very strange was going on here. It couldn't be Walkiria, no matter how powerful the form the [Event Horizon] granted, there should have been no ability that could do this.

Finally, the chaotic shifting stabilized and very area around him became white. Soon, splotches of color appeared. First, green and brown, the associated colors of the earth and then other colors began to fill out the shapes of everyday objects of the countryside. It was almost as if someone was making a painting without stopping.

A moment later the ground beneath his feat once more burst into flame as it had done so previously. The only other noticeable difference was that the sky had darkened as clouds moved overhead.

"What the hell just happened?" Kiros thought. He certainly didn't imagine that but he didn't feel any different at the same time.

"!gnitroper vorik"

Kiros shifted his view to where the sound originated. There, right in front of him was some kind of fetus with bony wings. So bizarre was the visage that he ended up unmoving and undecided as to his next course of action for a few moments. After this time had passed, he decided that whatever this _thing_ was the world was better off without it and brought a gigantic, flaming paw down on it. It neither attempted to dodge or do anything to defend itself despite it imminent death approaching.

"!riuA rof efil yM"

Suddenly there was burst of energy as the creature died and Kiros felt a sensation akin to him falling.

\- 0 -

If this were some kind of movie, Walkiria would have said something along the lines of "I have a bad feeling about this...". However, she didn't really need to feel anything when she could see the weirdness that was happening around her. Reality seemed to stretch and contract, with various colors swirling around like soup being stirred until it stopped presenting a similar but, at the same time different picture.

Deciding to better off safe than sorry she activated [Looking Glass]. With it, her vision became tunneled but had greater range than even her [True Form] granted in terms of default abilities. With it she saw three figures in a loose formation moving towards another shape that also looked like a person.

"{Ainz, is that you? Were you responsible for _that_ earlier?}" She messaged him.

"{Yes, that was me}", Ainz replied back, "{I used the World Item [Picture of Nature and Nation] to seal us in, in order to prevent his escape. It looks like you got caught in the effective range.}"

Ainz let out a chuckle, "{Don't worry, I'll admit to jumping in last time unprepared, but not this time. Sit back and enjoy the show. I'll teach this rabble on why you shouldn't mess with Ainz Ooal Gown.}"

Walkiria growled in annoyance at his tone. However, whatever Ainz did seemed to have at least done something to Kiros' form. Earlier on she could see his hulking form perfectly without [Looking Glass], after all a giant, flaming quadruped was difficult to miss from the skies. As she debated on whether to actually help Ainz or not, her keen senses detected the sound of numerous rustling feathers. Looking up she was surprised to see why the entire sky was dark and it was because there was a swarm of innumerable humanoids with wings circling in the sky like hawks that sighted their prey.

\- 0 -

Kiros felt tired, not necessarily in a physical sense, though it was close to that. If he felt the power and predatory confidence of the Therianthrope form, his most basic form, then right now he was lethargic, torpid.

"It must have been that little gum reject!" He thought, as he quickly cycled through his inventory, "If this Status is what I think it is, its either a general stat debuff or a some kind of [Hex]."

In ANO equipment was half of the focus of players as it determined a large chunk of their stats.

Kiros found a set he thought could dispel the [Hex] and equipped it. Instantly he was ensconced inside a crimson, diabolical-looking armor that appeared like a skinned humanoid. Despite changing into a different set of equipment, Kiros felt no increase in his stats or the the removal of the de-buff.

"It won't work." Said a voice.

Kiros turned around to see the Undead Player he was about to have finished off earlier. Behind him stood a person in a striped suit with glasses, tail flicking dangerously. He held an ornate cup in his hand and wore an angry scowl on his face.

Beside the Undead Player was probably either another NPC or Player equipped with a set of silver armor with red tassels.

"Oh, its you?" Kiros noted the Undead player he had fought before, "Looks like you're a glutton for punishment unless you completely forgot what happened a couple of hours ago."

"I didn't consider you to be worth the effort and resources then," Ainz lifted his chin, "but now I'm going to be serious."

"You probably suspect this already," Ainz continued, "but you've been brought down to seventy percent of the level cap, along with your stats. I'll pay you back for that insult ten times over!"

"I've been in worse spots." Kiros sneered behind the helm, "Do you know how many people tried that out in the beginning?"

"Pandora," Ainz made a gesture with his head, "Its time for some exercise."

The silver armored individual in front of Ainz blurred and shot towards Kiros.

"Jawohl! Mein Gott!"

Ainz resisted the urge to face palm. He was so engrossed in briefing his creation on matters outside of Nazarick that he had forgotten to instruct him not to speak in German! It didn't help that his NPC, naturally empathic to him, had probably read the mood and remained mostly quiet when he outlined to Demiurge and Mare their respective roles in his plan.

Pandora's Actor, in the form of his close friend Touch Me, struck at Kiros using a basic attack as per his creator's instructions. Unsurprisingly, the Player dodged the attack by taking a half-leap back before retaliating with his own attack. His blade, a relatively plain looking weapon, had several runes on it, one of which lit up after the successful strike. Pandora's Actor blocked the counter-attack, the shield of his master's friend not even suffering a scratch from the impact.

The NPC struck out once more, this time the attack was skillfully parried and another counter-strike was blocked. This pattern continued until all the runes of the sword were fully lit and then the next attack of Kiros was not a counter but rather a savage cut that surprised Pandora who had gotten used to the rhythm of the fight. What was even more surprising was how the damage seemed to ignore his armor's defense and shaved off a noticeable chunk of his HP.

This was unexpected. Ainz who was watching the fight intently with his surveillance spells narrowed his eyes. He theorized that this player should now be at Lvl 30, which wouldn't pose a threat to Pandora's Actor who, when shape-shifter, was at 80 percent power of the person he copied.

"{Pandora}," Ainz said using [Message], "{Switch to the next phase}".

"Understood Lord Ainz!" Pandora retreated a step before activating an ability, "[Reality Slash]!"

"[Parry /Ability/]" Kiros executed a diagonal cut, redirecting the attack to the side. The impact created a large crater that could be filled with gallons of water.

"Impressive reflexes," Ainz mused stroking his chin, apparently this player knew that the effects of Victim's debuff did not extend to skills and spells. However...

"{Pandora, repeat the attack}".

The Doppleganger did as he was told and again Kiros successfully deflected the attack.

"{He performs a flourish animation after a successful parry}," Ainz stated, "Attack accordingly."

"[Tri-Slash]!" The ability used by Pandora then executed three near imperceptible simultaneous attacks towards his opponent.

Against a lone opponent it would deal all three attacks onto the target but against multiple opponents it would strike out at the nearest three targets within range. It was a useful skill for PvE and PvP, though it was obviously more damaging when used in the latter. Moreover, the choice of attack brought out a warm feeling in Ainz's chest as it was the skill Touch Me used to save him the first time they met.

The attack predictably connected, the Player not having enacted an appropriate ability to counter the ability. Using his spell to sense HP, Ainz grinned though it would not show on his skeletal face to see his enemy's HP drop significantly.

However, the Player doggedly continued to attack his NPC and upon filling out the runes on his sword executed another attack that shaved off a specific amount of HP from Pandora's Actor. Simultaneously, the Player's HP recovered by a certain percentage.

"Is it a passive, racial trait or related to that weapon?" Ainz wondered, developing an interest in the weapon now. Hopefully he could get it as a Drop and store it as a trophy.

Now he looked at Pandora's Actor's HP to see it was down by thirty percent. If both opponents did not heal then it would be a damage race to see who could beat who first, though Pandora would have a comfortable lead in terms of stats due to the curse effect despite the ridiculously high HP the enemy player possessed. However, matches were never that simple unless it was a self-imposed rule between combatants and this fight hadn't even started yet.

"[Explosive Master Mine]". Ainz pointed in the direction the where he estimated the player would land after another successful dodge.

An explosion bloomed as the player entered the spell's effective area and caused him to stagger back.

"Don't think this is going to be a fair fight," Ainz said out loud, "But for your crime of insulting my guild I'm going to drag this out as long as I can."

"Only an idiot would think every fight should be fair," The player chuckled, "But you're not as smart as you think you are. You kind of made it obvious when you brought over two of these punching bags with you."

"Well, I guess its also time for me step it up," He stored his runic blade and pulled out another weapon. This time it looked even more crude, being cracked and chipped on all sides with a chain that was connected to the handle on one end and wrapped around the player's wrist on the other.

Pandora's Actor, however, decided to attack without prompting this time as per his instructions earlier. Unlike before the player no longer met his attack head on with a parry but rather chose to evade, positioning Pandora's Actor between him and Ainz. This puzzled the Lich since there were numerous spells that didn't rely on line of attack and so it couldn't have been an attempt to block his attacks by risk of friendly fire.

The answer to this puzzling behavior came when the player had reached a sufficient distance between himself and Pandora's Actor. From his inventory he summoned...a keg. The innocuous item dropped right in front of him before he kicked it towards the Doppleganger NPC. Any concern that welled in Ainz was stifled by an even more strange behavior when the player followed the item. This time he was clearly aiming to strike Pandora's Actor. The NPC raised his shield to guard against the attack but an explosion flung him violently backwards to where Ainz was standing when the sword connected.

"[Fuse/ Delayed]" Kiros whispered when he kicked the keg for a second time. The barrel sailed over towards Ainz where it exploded, bathing a small area in a dark purple mist. Immediately Ainz felt drained, even tired, for the very first time he was transported into this world.

"Like it?" Kiros charged the his surprised opponents, "You aren't the only one to use this effect! What do you think we used during the last battle of the server shutdown?!"

"[Bone Javelin]!" Ainz cast the spell despite the feeling of enervation. Almost immediately sharpened spears made of bones formed in the air and shot out towards their target. However, once again the player blurred, passing the javelins as if they were made of air and continued towards him.

"That blasted [Evade] type skill again!" Ainz thought angrily.

The fact that it could be used multiple times was aggravating. Though its weakness was obvious, attacking the user before or after its activation, it was a reflex based skill and thus favored heavily into melee class builds. Add to the fact that it seemed capable of dodging most low to medium Tier spells only made a bigger nuisance. Still... Ainz had a large amount of PvP experience and having seen this type of spell, there were other ways a non-melee player could defeat this ability.

He was close now, close enough to strike. Before he could strike Ainz, Pandora's Actor moved in front of Ainz, with Touch Me's shield raised. Ainz could see dark purple smoke around his creation and immediately guessed that he had been caught in the AoE of the item.

A sidewards attack blew the NPC to the side. The weapon's attack was low but its [Knockback] ability was top notch it seemed. Kiros blurred again, this time appearing behind Ainz and struck him in the back. He felt an odd floating sensation as he sailed over a good distance away. For a moment, Ainz was disoriented since he couldn't feel receiving any damage or even landing for that matter. As he raised his head from the ground he saw that the player had now leaped into the air, his fist on fire and surrounded by those unreadable ability runes again as he careened towards him. The fist struck him square on the jaw and a sphere of fire bloomed.

"Lord Ainz!" Pandora called out in indignation. How dare this cretin strike his creator!

"Impressive, I actually felt that," Ainz activated [Fly] to move out reach of his enemy to take stock of the area, "Fire is, after all, a well-known weakness of the Undead."

"But, did I not promise you this isn't going to be quick?" Ainz looked towards Demiurge who had been silent until now. The fact was, the Arch-Devil was speechless with rage at the display of defiance before him despite having his liege's plan laid out in full before him. If he wasn't explicitly ordered by his lord to not do anything...

"You may act now Demiurge," Ainz grinned.

The vein or rage bulging on Demuirge's head subsided and the NPC smiled like a snake. The cup he held on his hand glowed with a bright light as the healing energy restored Ainz and Pandora's Actor to full HP and MP.

"The World Item [Cup of Hygelia]," Ainz intoned from above, "It heals any and all targets of the user, even those classes such as the undead that would be damaged by such spells."

"And I should be honored by you showing me all these toys right? heh," Kiros scoffed, "Look at you, all this: Low level Magic Caster with two NPCs, using a super healing item to bring down one player!"

"Hah!" Kiros threw his head up to laugh, "You know, the players we fought at the server shutdown were not only practically naked but we even brought down their stats with the same type of [Hex] spell that you used! And still they put up a better fight than you!"

"You had your chance to take me out," He pointed at Ainz, "Time for the fun to end."

"Keep telling yourself that you'll come out of this on top," Ainz said, "You're not the first one to be punished for you mistake."

However, Kiros already ignored Ainz and began to search his mind for a particular ability he could use.

"[Skinwalker's Presence]!"

His eyes began to glow with an unearthly golden hue and his very shape began to shift, almost like he was vibrating at high speed. Kiros' image shifted and blurred until he faded out. Just as Ainz readied several defensive spells and sought to guess what type of ability he used, tiny cracks formed on the ground and began to leak out fumes from underneath the ground. Within seconds a small portion of the battlefield was now shrouded in a thick, pea-soup-like fog.

From within the fog, Kiros had emerged but rather stay still he quickly moved about planting the item [Gruesome Totem] which expanded the effects of the ability. However, because he was not the proper job class, he could only plant three of the item - the maximum amount for any player unless they had a special skill which could boost the total to eight.

Ainz noticed the that the fog, which seemed to engulf only a certain area now begin to expand outwards. Suspecting that it was being augmented he scanned the ground for anything that might give away the enemy player. Just as he was going to cast a spell to probe the dense fog he saw a shadow near the eastern edge with something in its hands.

"There you are!" Ainz's eyes narrowed, "[Thunder Spear]!"

A line made of pure electricity shot towards the figure who planted the object in the ground. Rather that attempt to dodge the attack, the player took a stance and just as the spell hit he struck out like a baseball player and sent the bolt flying back towards Ainz. Pandora's Actor arrived just in time with Touch Me's shield to absorb the attack.

"Tch! An ability to deflect a magic attack?" Ainz wondered. His friend, Warrior Takemikazuchi, had a similar ability that could deflect projectiles as well, which the former reported to be difficult to time properly. It looks like this person wasn't just all talk after all. However...

First let's see where he's hiding..." Ainz summoned a Death Knight on the ground. His plan was to send a disposable asset inside the fog to locate the player. The area covered was fairly large and its wouldn't be a stretch to say part of the way this ability was used, other than to confound any detection spells was to have opponents either wander in to be picked off or to have long range players use up their MP blasting away at random.

The summon appeared on the ground and Ainz sent a set of mental commands to it. Giving a bone-chilling roar the Death Knight stormed into the fog, shield held up and sword leveled for a quick counter thrust upon enemy contact. A few seconds passed and Ainz closely monitored his summon's perception, which was about as good as his view of the interior of the fog. Whatever this ability was it seemed to block out all senses except for that of the caster.

Suddenly the link was severed. Not a surprise, seeing as the player must be around the level of the Death Knight, but to be this quick...perhaps the fog boosts some stats as well? Just as Ainz tried to guess where in the fog his summons was taken out something screamed outwards towards him which Pandora's Actor dutifully blocked with his shield once again.

"Lord Ainz," Demiurge floated up beside him, "I believe he has had his fun, may I send my minions to teach him his lesson?"

"Keep them in reserve Demiurge," Ainz smiled, or at least he tried to as a former human habit. "I am not done having fun yet. So far this is the first challenge I've ever had in this world. Besides..."

Ainz looked up to the darkened sky. "It would be a waste of their appearance, no?"

\- 0 -

Walkiria hovered in place as she tried to keep an eye on the battle as well as the swarm of figures in the sky. She figured it was the result of whatever Ainz did earlier to change the landscape. She had heard of items and abilities that did this on a large scale, however, as a melee type she had little personal experience in that area and simply listened from the players who did do such things in ANO.

She had hesitated to move as she didn't know the properties of the creatures in the sky or even what could move could trigger their Aggro. Being attacked from behind was a situation no player ever found good in. Besides, whatever Ainz was doing seemed to be at least holding Kiros down, it would be best if Ainz and his NPCs could whittle down Kiros' items and skill usage for her.

Suddenly, there was a change in the pattern of flight of the creatures. From the swirling mass a tip formed as they dived down towards where she had seen Ainz and Kiros fighting. The numerous flapping wings sounded like a hurricane while the creatures, now confirmed to be all female, let out a battlecry that would have frozen the blood of regular person and rooted them on the spot once they heard it.

Despite being a ways off she jinked to the side to avoid the mass.

\- 0 -

"Even if you realized running isn't an option, hiding won't help you either," Ainz thought as he sent instructions to Aura who directly controlled the Valkyries by virtue of being the user of [Picture of Nature and Nation].

Within a minute he heard the rustling of wings and looked up to see a wall of flyers, the NPC Valkyries from the long past update event, diving towards the fog shrouded area. He smiled upon reliving the memory of that in-game Event where it simulated a Yggdrasil-wide conflict that heralded the upcoming update. It was a rare chance not only for Event-exclusive loot but also a chance to be forever part of the game lore. It was proud moment for Ainz when his close friend, Touch-Me, had made a name for himself during that time.

{Lord Ainz, the other Player approaches...} Demiurge spoke to him via [Message]. Ainz noticed that Pandora had taken a protective position in front of him as Walkiria approached.

"Ainz! What are you doing?!" Walkiria hovered to his side, "I already told you to leave this to me!"

"Your concern is noted, but Lord Ainz already has the situation under control." Pandora's Actor said testily.

"Indeed," came a voice not far behind her.

Demiurge hovered in the air whilst holding an ornate cup in one hand.

"You could say that everything has gone on according to plan."

"That's how it is." Ainz finally turned to her. He didn't want to miss the image of the Valkyries diving into the fog, "I'll admit he was tougher than I thought, but when it's time to pull out the stops a lone player cannot fight against quantity and quality."

Once they got in it would only be a matter of time. Though their level was low, there was an uncountable number of Valkyries and even if they would only deal a minute amount of damage there was more than enough of them to bury a single player.

"You still don't get it!" Walkiria protested, "haven't you noticed something strange? And even if I left you alone to go ahead with your plan he still has a few surprises for you!"

"Oh? Do tell," Ainz asked with all seriousness, "then we can deal with it together, as per our agreement. Combat assistance is deemed written in an contract of alliance no? Just like how employment standards are necessarily included in a contract even if not written. My guild has more than enough stores...

There was a commotion in the fog and all three turned to see the result of rush. Dark shapes could be seen at the edges of the fog. It appeared that the Valkyries had combed the entire area whitest they wee talking. Out of the fog, a familiar figure dashed out now pursued by the Valkyries. Rather than his previous weapon, Kiros now used a rusty looking blade that was horribly chipped. As a group of Valkyries closed in on him, the player now dashed forward, spinning the large blade to strike at the group. Once staggered, he retreated to another direction, once again swinging his blade in a large arc to catch another group in its range.

Ainz squinted as he noticed something peculiar with the Valkyries that were attacked. Though predictably not vanquished in one attack, they started to slow down. Within moments their skin turned a sickly green then to gangrenous black. Bits and pieces fell off their bodies as they slumped down and disintegrated into nothing.

"[Urfather's Flake]", Walkiria said, "Its a poison weapon. There's no way to avoid the effect unless you are absolutely immune to it."

"Then its a good thing the Undead are," Ainz stated, "Even if I was vulnerable or affected by it, I also have that covered."

Demuirge smiled at this. He held the Cup of Hygelia after all. What foresight of his master! Poison needed time to act and the effect could easily be countered by continuous healing. The only reason the Valkyrie summons succumbed to it was because of their low HP and they were disposable.

"[He has an auto-revive ability]," Walkiria explained through [Message]. It appeared to be a faster way to communicate.

"Its effect can restore him to a maximum of 80% of his total HP, but he kept the amount at 30%."

"What? Why?" Ainz asked out loud. The information surprised him. It was common sense that a higher restore would be more beneficial.

"Its to immediately take advantage of his [Fury] skill," She quickly replied. Those NPC summons were probably going to end up activating the skill at this rate. "It stacks with his [Berserk] Perk in Werewolf form. It will allow him to kill even players with the highest Defense and Resist stats in two to four hits."

"Just in case you're wondering," She finished, "The auto-revive skill, [Soul Flare], grants him damage immunity fifteen seconds after activation. If you have been watching before his transformation, you would have noticed that I paced the fight to prevent its activation."

Ainz processed all this information. It would make sense, in a high-risk high-reward sort of way. It would allow the player to finish the fight quickly especially if the opponent had no advanced information like he had just now and would be surprised at the sudden increase of damage upon revival.

"I can work with this information," Ainz said, "This is a matter of pride for me now. That person just harmed the creation of my friends!"

He pointed angrily at the swarm of NPC that was now beginning to engulf the enemy player.

"You still haven't realized it yet?" Walkiria was growing exasperated, "You can't beat him as you are, but I can."

"My creator has been playing this battle like an orchestra," Pandora's Actor interrupted, "All has been going according to plan so far."

"You've a choice," She said, ignoring the NPC, "Either let me take him down which is going to benefit everyone in the long run - or you're going to watch a repeat of before." She nodded in the direction of the NPCs.

Ainz' eyes burned brightly at the thought of being denied retribution for the insults the guild had suffered. On the other hand, the thought of seeing creations of his friends harmed gave him pause.

"We'll hit him together then," He proposed, "I have to do this."

There was a howl that caused all four to look in the direction of the swarm of Valkyrie NPCs. They had finally succeeded in encircling the player and used the sheer mass of their bodies to press him. However, the howl was not one of despair but rather joy which made Ainz grudgingly accept in his heart that Walkiria's information was right, and that the whole resistance was not one to survive but a trap to turn the tables on him.

"We talked for too long!" Walkiria hissed, readying her weapon.

The mass of NPCs were suddenly flung outwards violently. A swirling mass of fire and lightning crackled in the center of the horde. Ainz could see bright red orbs flying away from each other like fireworks do, however, to Walkiria this symbolized the death of a player in-game but instead of dissipating or being absorbed she knew what would happen next.

The orbs began to gather together and slowly began reconstituting the form of Kiros.

[Soul Flare] had activated.

"Ah! Now this is more like it!" Kiros fixed Ainz a glare, "I don't suppose you have any more of those flying fetus' eh? No?"

While he was talking the scattered Valkyries reoriented themselves and continued their assault, driven by the order given to them by Aura.

"Not this time ladies!" [Hastati's Bane], his main weapon, rematerialized itself in his hand, "[Tornado Thresher]!".

He began to spin violently towards the group of four and those Valkyries that were not torn apart from being struck by his weapon struggled to approach due to the strong winds generated by the attack.

"Eight..." Ainz was counting in his head the time the player would supposedly be invincible from his revival.

"Keep your distance!" He ordered Demuirge and Pandora's Actor, "[Fly]!"

Once again, Ainz took to the sky. Demuirge returned to his position as the group healer while Pandora's Actor stayed within range to protect Ainz should the need arise.

Walkiria on the other hand opted to stay in her position. [Anointed Ground] A circle of eldritch purple briefly flared outwards. The established perimeter would now increase any damage she dealt to an enemy and at the same time allow her to obtain a minor random stat boost after a slaying an enemy.

A giant blade careened towards her head and she barely brought up her scythe in time to block it. The force of the blow pushed her back a few inches but she dug in using her now clawed feet.

"See? Told you guys [Soul Flare] was worth investing in," Kiros grinned wolfishly.

He shoved Walkiria back and wound up for another attack. The strike couldn't be [Deflected] in time and she was instead forced to block again. Walkiria could feel the weight behind the blow. The [Stagger] state would probably be in the next hit, not counting the more disastrous [Guard Break] result should she choose to block the succeeding attack again.

She retreated backwards, turning into a dark mist and reappeared a few feet away. Walkiria had barely enough time to get ready for another attack. This time, the distance allowed her time to cast a defensive ability.

"You didn't deserve to survive Aincrad!" Kiros struggled to pierce the barrier generated by [Wall of Blood], "If you're go out of your way to help another player!"

[Spiral Cut]! The attack caused Kiros to slice up the barrier and step back as part of the maneuver.

[Heart Stopper]! He pointed the blade towards Walkiria and charged.

Right before the attack landed a small energy sphere rose from the ground between the two and exploded. It was [Master Mine], the ground variant of the [Drifting Master Mine] spell.

"Zero.", Ainz stated calmly from above, "Your re-spawn time is up."

"Stay put baldy," Kiros bared his teeth, "I'll get to you later."

"Stay put? A good idea!" Ainz smirked, "Pandora!"

Ainz had sent a instructions mentally and Pandora's actor complied by raising a wooden talisman. Crushing it in his hand, the Doppleganger immediately changed form. Gone was the silvery armor of Touch me and was replaced by the golden armor of Peroronchino. The item used by Pandora's Actor was a cash item and immediately allowed his shapeshifting ability to be reused immediately.

He hefted the bow of Ainz's close friend and fired three shots into the air.

Three arrows landed around Kiros and immediately formed an energy barrier. Kiros didn't so much as feel but know that he suddenly couldn't use some of his abilities. The skill [Tri-Punisher] was an excellent harassment ability that could be used to control a battlefield.

"[Bullrush]!", Kiros charged through the marked field and rolled through the barrier, the move granting him a limited invulnerability. Once free from the trap he sprang upwards aiming for Ainz with his sword.

"Not so fast..." Ainz said.

A massive figure collided with him, knocking him off course. Earlier on, he had Demuirge summon a few of his Evil Lords as backup just in case, considering that one could not use any other spells within the [Cup of Hygelia] if they wielded it.

Landing neatly Kiros looked up to see a demonic creature glaring at him. Squinting, he examined its level - Lvl 84 and mentally scoffed. Now that he was free from the [Hex] status he was back to form. He charged straight at it, leaving a small trench in his wake.

The Evil Lord - Wrath roared in response and met his head on attack with a flaming fist. However, rather than attack with his sword Kiros sidestepped the attack and instead bit the wrist of the summon.

"[Lockjaw]!" Kiros could feel his HP regenerating but he didn't want to lose the damage bonus granted by the 30% HP limit and so he chose to end the confrontation early.

"[Deathroll]!" He leapt into the air and spun violently, bringing the Evil Lord with him. After the move was done, Kiros landed on the ground right before the broken body of the summons hit the dirt.

With the obstacle gone, he leapt up at Ainz once more. Strangely enough Ainz didn't run, holding an arm out to stop Pandora's Actor from moving. Just as the sword tip hit him, Ainz and Pandora vanished. As he descended from the failed attack Kiros looked around in confusion.

"Hoh? So you fell for such a simple trick," Ainz said from his new position, "I don't even have much spells regarding illusions to begin with, I think I'll have to lower my evaluation of you."

"Neat trick but I'm not done yet," Kiros growled, "[Volcanic Implosion]!"

He pointed his sword down and as he landed there was a fiery burst and Ainz and Pandora's Actor were brought down by the sudden gale that rushed to fill in the vacuum.

"What?!" Ainz mentally shouted in surprise.

"Who's lowered now?!" Kiros attacked.

"This...!" Time seemed to move slowly as gigantic sword filled Ainz's vision while a blur of yellow dashed towards in front of him.

It was Pandora's Actor and he was using himself as shield for Ainz. The NPC's arrival was so haphazard that he still sideways when he reached Ainz's position. His heart felt cold as he realized that Pandora's Actor might very well perish as he recalled Walkiria's information about the sheer damage boost his enemy received.

However, before the weapon could strike him the player was violently pulled backwards with by an ethereal scythe.

A cool refreshing sensation washed over Ainz and he stood up in time to see Demuirge flying towards him. The NPC had used the World Item to fully him.

"Lord Ainz!" Though Demuirge had diamonds for eyes he looked terribly worried for his master. However, Ainz was still confused about what was happening. The damage boost should not have affected his enemy's other stats and so even the Evil Lord should have lasted for a bit, so what was really going on?

\- 0 -

Surprised by the sudden shift in positions, Kiros looked back just in time for Walkiria's scythe to hit him square in the chest. This time the pain he felt was even more intense compared to the magic caster's attacks and his NPCs and he felt his HP was now dangerously low.

[Infernal Thornbrush]! The skill used by Walkiria caused a wave of spikes to rise from the ground to impale Kiros. He felt a tingling sensation as the ability tried to apply its effects but ultimately failed against the checks of his status resistance.

[Bloody Spear]! This time he was ready. Just before the bolt hit, he parried it to the side causing a massive explosion. Using the explosion as a distraction Kiros consumed a [Lesser Spirit] that healed him for a minute amount, just enough to keep [Berserk] active. He made a mistake earlier in thinking that he could win by trading blows but now it was time to correct that error.

Activating his charge ability again he rushed her, making use of the single instant needed to use an ability. She won by controlling the distance of the fight to her advantage before but now, with his [Soul Flare] and [Berserk] active, he could end the fight quickly.

Walkiria stretched her wings backwards to give herself an added speed boost as she retreated away from the range of his weapon but Kiros pursued her relentlessly, denying the use of skills to knock him back.

"[Cyclonic Maul]!"

His sword lashed out in a wide arc connecting with Walkiria's weapon, finally breaking through her guard. She stumbled to the side, reeling from both the damage received and the force of the attack. A second swing immediately followed up as part of the move set further adding to the current state and ended with a powerful upward sweep.

"[Guillotine Crash!]" Kiros guessed her HP should be just about gone now and activated a second skill. The attack sent her crashing into the ground, forming a large crater but to his surprise she didn't die in the expected number of attacks, however, the dark armor on the player finally lost any splendor it had, even in the dark twisted state those with negative Karma had.

Now, it looked like scrap metal.

"That must be it," He thought, "An item ability to stave off instant death but not grant any other benefits."

It was a good starting ability to have but lost value as one leveled up since it did not grant any restoration or other benefits. In fact it was only ever used to run away from surprise attacks that a player might encounter early on if they stumbled into a situation they couldn't handle like a high level area. It was useless though when they trapped or prevented from escaping through other means.

Walkiria tried to reach for her weapon that she lost upon landing but Kiros quickly pinned her down with a clawed foot. A quick scan of her HP revealed that it was indeed in the red. It didn't matter that she managed to avoid defeat outright, tactical timing and strategy could only get you so far. If the stats were stacked against you a plan would crumble and victory would turn to defeat in an instant.

"Looks like I get first blood!" He raised his sword overhead and plunged it down to her chest.

However, just as the sword touched the armor an eye opened at the center and there was sharp howl as the armor exploded outwards. Kiros reeled back from the explosion and found that he was in the [Stunned] state which surprised him since he was fully guarded against such a condition.

Rising from her position Walkiria grabbed her weapon.

"[Fatal Waltz]! [Rupturing Slash]! [Reaving Gale]!..."

She continued to unleash a series of relatively low level attack skills, taking full advantage of the state Kiros was in. ANO encouraged the use of combos by guaranteeing a damage boost at the end of the attack, however, most attack skills usually dealt a bit more damage than combo attacks. Walkiria got the idea to chain a weaker set of skills due to their low MP cost after seeing another player with an unusual equipment set up dominate an opponent with a popular PvP set up by using several mid-tier skills in succession that applied a different effect per use. Lastly, her retreat was not just to regroup but to lure him into the prepared area of the support skill she cast earlier, [Anointed Ground], which would slightly boost her stats.

She squinted and checked Kiros' HP as he reeled from another attack - almost done.

"[Death's Reap]!" Using a higher level skill this time that brought her MP dangerously low, her scythe cleaved a wide area pulverizing the ground and sending violent gusts throughout the battlefield.

Kiros slumped to the ground on his knees as he took the full force of the attack.

"Heh, didn't think you were crazy enough to sacrifice an [Immortal] grade item like that, must have take weeks to build up," Kiros sounded weary though Walkiria still approached him cautiously, keeping her now elongated neck close out of reach. Another scan had shown his HP bar was completely gone now to be replaced by an elongated skull.

This was it. The skull represented the [Fate] state. Finishing off the defeated player granted a portion of HP and MP back...as well as hefty points of evil Karma while the opposite granted the victorious player a large amount of good Karma and temporary invincibility for a time.

"Would he respawn afterwards?" Walkiria wondered if the same were true had it the fight ended the other way around.

"Got cold feet now?" Kiros spat out blood, the skull above him faded in color, indicating that the passage of time to make the decision was almost up. "GO ON! Do it! You're one of us and you always will be! After the first couple of Players you offed you could have hid in corner of Aincrad and waited it out! But what did you do?! Huh?! Do you know how hard it is to get to Red? You're the same as all PKers! It doesn't matter how you-!"

The tip of the scythe buried itself on his head, lifting it up as part of the move set the body was smashed into the ground and within moments it began to disintegrate in particles of light. However, Kiros' weapon [Hastati's Bane] was left behind. The spoils of war.

Before she picked it up, Walkiria turned to Ainz who had an unreadable look to him. Rather that proceed she reached into her inventory and took out a [Captive Fey], one of the highest grade healing items and used it on herself.

* * *

Author's note:

Well, time to address the questions posed earlier by the reviews. Before we go any further I would like the readers to know that I am very well aware of the abilities in Overlord. My knowledge is not based on the anime, which cut a lot of explanations, internal thoughts and feelings of characters, but on the light novels and some of the side stories, so I can probably fill out a mostly complete guide of the Overlord light novels. Overlord is in fact, the reason I started reading "transported to another wold" stories. I do not dislike the series one bit, otherwise Nazarick would have been transported to some other place where they would be stomped.

The first and most common issue appears to be how overpowered the OC characters are. Let me put this issue to rest and reassure readers. These characters are powerful but not invincible. They might have higher stats across the board and they have a full stock of miscellaneous items from their frenzied farming mentioned in chapter 1 - but they simply do not have the resources of Nazarick. Only a fraction of said resources was deployed in this battle. One of my long time reviewers has actually nailed the way to defeat them: Raid Boss tactics.

At the risk of lengthening this section let me list a few things from my notes as to why Nazarick can win, just not stomp.

World Class Items - Both High (one shot/one use) and Low (reusable) types.

Guardians and their equipments. Please note that Albedo's Giggunap did not break despite being hit by an item breaking ability which is a canon feature in Overlord. She also survived multiple fatal hits because of her armor.

Giganta and Victim- Giganta was said to be unbeatable even by Touch-Me and Victim's rumored debuff ability would have brought down any ANO player down to manageable levels.

Nazarick - A base that kept out 1500 players and is home ground to boot. Enough said.

Pandora's Actor - I'm still debating on whether or not PA can copy a ANO player since the game code is so foreign, but in theory if he could obtain 80% of their power combined with the right strike team which includes Ainz and the odds are solidly against the ANO player.

These are just some of the things I could list at the top of my head upon this writing. So looking at this list can you honestly say that the ANO players have any advantage except two? If we're going to be strict about it they only have one.

With all these present, how did the situation go south? Ainz was in a rush and he assumed he was facing a Yggdrasil player. By all accounts the forces he brought were more than enough for a win, but he didn't count on them being from a different game or even world. If he brought everything I listed he could have won easily.

Next some of the more specific questions. Grasp Heart and Time Stop. These abilities work flawlessly against New World inhabitants because they are estimated to be under level 30 such as Gazef. Players? Not so much.

Grasp heart in the novels is an instant kill when it hits and stuns when the target survives. To be honest I have seen this type of comment in other reviews of other Overlord Fanfics as well. "Even if its a player its still a living thing so it will die immediately! - Spam Grasp Heart!"

This is not how games work.

Games revolve around balance and if Grasp Heart's rule was absolute everyone would use it. There is something called Defense, Resistance or whatever a game decides to call it. For example, in this game that I am currently playing, I have used a weapon with a similar insta-kill effect with the addition of a 90% debuff of all stats in the event of survival. Against a higher level player? Only 1/3 of his HP down, no debuff effect. Ainz is not fighting a New World normie, he's a fighting a Player who has had his stats and game lore converted and interpreted by whatever magic brought them there to be real. They aren't noobs either, they're veteran gamers who survived a death game.

Time Stop has a similar reason. Additionally, Ainz stated that Level 70 players normally develop countermeasures against this. No way a Level 70 player would have been able to force Shalltear, of all NPCs, to retreat. Ainz didn't even bother to use time stop against Shalltear, why bother against a player he presumes to be Level 100? Granted I didn't think of this back then about Time Stop, but the reason why he would not do so exists in canon already.

Next issue, the guardians are stupid evil who simply do things for the evulz. No, they are not stupid just because they throw more and more powerful attacks by instinct. The evidence of this is the Ainz vs. Shalltear fight and the Dryad arc where Ainz had to specifically instruct them to fight as a team. To their credit they were able to learn to fight as a team even though any one of them could have defeated that tree creature easily. In fact, Ainz himself thought about how they should have fought as a team near instantaneously in ch. 12 of this story. I was simply utilizing the state they in at this time in the light novel and that is to say how NPCs would act in a game. In other words they can't really be left on their own for too long, maybe the Guardians would be able to after a while but its still too soon at this point.

Finally, there were several calls for de-powering or at least treating the ANO player's level and stats as equivalent to those of Yggdrasil players. All of these things lead me to one conclusion - readers want to see another Nazarick stomp story. Well, this is going to be partially the case. AOG built itself from the ground up to be a top tier guild and this will be the general direction of this story. The introduction of how a foreign element changes the main story is one of the two possible ways a crossover can go, and this one validates Ainz's paranoia of hostile Yggdrasil players in canon. Nazarick stomps is correct, but the complete version should be: _Nazarick stomps anything native to the New World._

As to the battle in these three chapters? There are three wildly different scenarios in my notes. Just to point out that I continually refine the events in my free time if I feel like it.

If you think I'm mad, I'm not. I won't blame you since you haven't seen my notes on this work and the direction its going. I am in fact more confused as how some people arrived at the conclusion that these characters are playing SAO at the moment. If you don't like the story that's fine, but I do see faves and follows coming in every now and then and that's good enough for me.

Until Next Time.


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